The Sea's Recovery
by MoonTitanessSelene
Summary: Persephone Jackson has defeated Gaea. She finds out that her boyfriend has been cheating on her. That, combined with past experiences, leaves her hurting and finding it hard to trust people. The Seven become gods and Percy joins the Olympian council. Don't forget, some monsters want revenge for Gaea's death! What will happen now? Fem!Percy. Male!Annabeth. Fem!Leo. Percy x Ares.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **This is my first story, so please review. Constructive criticism will be much appreciated. If you have any grammar or spelling corrections, please let me know. I'll try to correct the story. Also, if anyone can come up with a better summary than the one I have posted as they read the story, please send it to me. I know it's terrible, and I would definitely like a better one. As a reminder, this is a fem!Percy story. And now, without further ado, may I present Chapter 1...

**Chapter 1**

**Percy POV**

Percy Jackson knelt before the gods in the throne room of Olympus. Her body hurt all over from the numerous wounds she received battling Gaea and the giants. Yet, she barely felt the pain as one thought played through her mind again and again.

Anthony Chase, the boy she loved - the boy she had jumped into Tartarus for - was cheating on her with Lavinia Valdez.

She paid no attention to Zeus as he spoke of their victory. However, the king of the gods caught her attention when he announced that he would bestow gifts upon the Seven of the prophecy.

"I have discussed this with the rest of the Olympians and we have decided to grant all seven of you immortality, should you agree. You would become gods," stated Zeus.

Percy glanced at the rest of the Seven. They were each looking at their significant other, making sure that he or she would accept immortality. The sixteen year old girl glanced at Anthony, trying to mask the longing and heartbreak in her gaze. He gazed back at her, pretending that he was still in love with her. The boy had yet to break up with her - he was still cheating on her. Anthony nodded his head, signaling that he would accept immortality. Percy looked away without replying in kind. She caught sight of Anthony furrowing his brow in confusion from the corner of her eye.

Percy looked down, remembering how, a few days ago, she had caught Anthony and Leah making out down in the engine room. She had slipped away to her bedroom without them noticing her. She had decided to pretend that nothing was wrong - she couldn't rip the Seven apart with the impending war against Gaea, and her children.

Zeus' voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "One at a time, you shall approach your parent and tell them if you accept immortality. If you do, it shall be given, and you will become a god. Your domains will be announced in a few moments by the Fates. If you don't accept our offer, you may ask for anything of your choice." His tone made it clear that he thought it would be foolish to refuse godhood.

Piper stood first, clutching her arm, which was bleeding. "I accept immortality."

Aphrodite placed her hand on her daughter's head, and whispered something under her breath, and Piper glowed for a moment, and then stood tall, completely healed.

The same process was repeated for Jason, Hazel, Frank, and Lavinia. There was no longer any need for Pluto to ignore Hazel as she was immortal. Frank lost his curse, as well, because he could no longer die. There was a moment's pause as Anthony looked at Percy, as though expecting her to go next. The girl gave a slight shake of her head. Shrugging, Anthony moved towards Athena.

Once the rest of the Seven had gained immortality, Percy stood up, gasping as pain hit her in waves. Gritting her teeth, she stepped up to Poseidon. Picking her words carefully, she said, "Instead of immortality, I request that Lord Hades and Lady Hestia be given positions in the council. They are the eldest children of Kronos and deserve as much respect as the rest of you."

Zeus openly groaned as Percy once again rejected immortality. He nodded wearily. "It shall be done." The sky god waved his hand, and two thrones sprang up from the ground. Hestia and Hades took their seats at the council. Hestia smiled at Percy, while Hades simply nodded in gratitude.

Athena spoke up, glancing at Anthony, and then Percy, "I believe, that despite Persephone Jackson's refusal of our gift in favor of giving Hestia and Hades their thrones, she should still be given immortality, if she desires it. After all, she is the one that killed Gaea in the end." It was obvious to Percy that she didn't want her son's heart to be broken when Percy died as she would if she remained mortal.

'_If only she knew,'_ thought Percy, bitterly.

The rest of the Olympians nodded in assent, even Ares and Dionysus, which surprised Percy. Percy wanted to refuse. She really didn't want to live forever, but one glance into Zeus' eyes told her that the god would be extremely upset if she refused again. Who knew what the king of the gods would do if angered. She bit her lip. She couldn't just leave her mother with Gabe. Suddenly, an idea struck her, and her sea-green eyes brightened. She looked straight at Zeus. "I will accept on one condition."

"Percy!" warned Poseidon. "Do not test my brother's patience."

Percy turned her head to look at the sea god. "I am sorry, father. But if I am to become a goddess, I must do this first."

"Very well, girl. What is it you want?" asked Hera, cutting in.

"I want permission to kill a mortal," stated Percy looking Zeus in the eye.

A few of the demigods present in the throne room opened their mouths in shock to question her motives, but then snapped them shut again as they realized they were about to interrupt Zeus.

The god raised an eyebrow in surprise, but nodded. "Permission given."

Poseidon then placed his hand on his daughter's head and gave her immortality. Percy's wounds closed up and were replaced by scars or smooth, tanned skin. The girl felt stronger than ever before, and would most likely have smiled, were it not for the fact that Anthony was cheating on her.

Suddenly, in a bright flash of light, the Fates appeared. "We are here to announce the domains of the seven new gods and goddesses in our midst. Piper McLean, you are the minor goddess of love and charmspeak. Jason Grace, you are now the minor god of lightning and flight. Hazel Levesque, from this day forth you shall be known as the minor goddess of riches and precious stones. Frank Zhang, you shall be the minor god of archery and shape shifting. Lavinia Valdez, you will be the minor goddess of fire and forges. Anthony Chase, you are the minor god of architecture and battle strategy. And finally, Persephone Jackson, you are now the major goddess of heroes, the tides and swordsmanship. Because of how powerful you are, you shall be the fifteenth Olympian."

Everyone gasped in shock as they heard the last statement. Percy's mouth dropped open in surprise - she most certainly wasn't expecting this.

The Fates spoke again. "Olympians, to ensure that you have a good bond with the newest member of your council, we will make it so that all fourteen of you shall feel all the emotions Persephone does as her life flashes before her. You will know what her life was like, while allowing her to maintain her privacy."

Percy gasped in fear and backed away a few feet. "That really isn't a good idea. Lachesis," she said pointing toward the middle Fate - the one that decided what would happen to one during their lifetime. "Please. You _know_ this is a terrible idea."

"I am sorry, Persephone," said Lachesis. "It must be done. However, none besides the Olympians must be present."

Grumbling, the rest of the gods - old and new - flashed out. The demigods from Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood who had been flashed to Olympus once Gaea was defeated also left, walking towards the elevators that would take them down to New York.

"Please," begged Percy. "Don't do this."

"Percy," said Poseidon, not understanding her reasons for asking the Fates to reconsider their idea. "Don't worry. Nothing bad will happen."

Percy just glared at the floor. "Go ahead, then. Do what you must."

**A/N: **My plan is to update pretty soon. I can't leave you guys with a cliffhanger for a long time, after all. I'm hoping to have the next chapter up tomorrow or the day after. Something to look forward to: Ares POV! Please review.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **This is my first story, so please review. Constructive criticism will be much appreciated. Also, if anyone can come up with a better summary than the one I have posted as they read the story, please send it to me. I know it's not as good as it could be, and I would definitely like a better one. I would also like to thank everyone who reviewed my story. It's feels really good to know people are reading this and are enjoying it. And now for Chapter 2...

**Chapter 2**

**Ares POV**

Ares felt a spark of respect for Percy Jackson as he watched her give up immortality so that Hades and Hestia could become a part of the Olympian council.

He felt curiosity and surprise when she requested that she be allowed to kill a mortal once she became a goddess.

And finally, he felt shock when the goddess practically begged the Fates to not make her watch her life.

'_Why would someone that defeated Kronos and Gaea fear watching a playback of their life?'_ he wondered.

"Prepare yourselves, Olympians," said the Fates. "The emotions you are about to feel may be unexpected and shocking. Each year of Persephone's life will take a minute. You will be feeling her emotions for almost seventeen minutes as she is almost seventeen years old. We will begin now." With that, the three Fates formed a ring around Percy and began chanting in Greek.

The Olympians closed their eyes. The first thing Ares felt was pure joy.

'_Why would she not want to experience this?' _he wondered.

The question was quickly answered when, about four minutes later, he felt Percy's disgust. The disgust only last momentarily and quickly turned to bitter hatred that was intermingled with fear and pain. Half a minute later, all he could feel was the fear and pain as it had overpowered the hate. Ares was overwhelmed by the strength of Percy's negative emotions. He felt like he was drowning in them. Then, when thirteen minutes were almost up, the fear and pain began to abate. Ares sighed in relief as the emotions stopped pounding at him as harshly.

_'This was when Jackson began her first quest,' _the war god realized._ 'I would have thought she would feel worse, not better. Just what happened to Poseidon's daughter, that a quest to the Underworld and a fight with me - the god of war - would be less painful and fear inducing than the rest of her life?'_

About fifteen seconds after Percy's pain and fear levels had decreased, they shot up again. The pattern of fifteen seconds with lower pain and fear levels and then forty five seconds with higher levels continued until sixteen minutes were completed.

_'This is when the punk defeated Kronos,' _Ares recognized. It became apparent to Ares that the summers spent at Camp Half Blood were less stressful than the rest of the year - even though those summers were spent completing quests.

All of a sudden, the emotions completely disappeared. For about forty seconds there was nothing but absolute stillness.

_'This must be the bit when Hera put Jackson into a deep sleep and took her memories. I guess she didn't even dream during those months she spent asleep.'_

And then, unexpectedly, emotions began to flood Ares' mind once more. A mixture of feelings - fear and joy, pain and relief, anger and love - overwhelmed Ares. Fifteen seconds later, the flood of emotions stopped, and Ares opened his eyes to find several of his fellow Olympians wiping tears from their own eyes. The war god, himself, found it hard to recover from the barrage of negative emotions he had just experienced. He couldn't imagine what Percy was experiencing. After all, she had _seen_ all the things that caused her to experience those turbulent emotions.

Ares turned his gaze to where the goddess should have been standing. Instead, he found the girl passed out on the floor, with tear tracks staining her cheeks and golden ichor dripping from her hands where her nails had dug in. Several of the Olympians gasped as they too saw Percy on the floor. Poseidon ran to her side and knelt, placing her body on his lap.

Apollo joined the sea god on the floor. After scanning the goddess' petite body, he pronounced his verdict, "Percy passed out, most likely from the stress of fighting Gaea and the sudden onslaught of emotions she felt due to the trip down memory lane."

Several gods and goddesses let out sighs of relief when they realized their heroine was just stressed. Ares was surprised to find he was one of them.

"Apollo, flash Percy to the infirmary," Zeus ordered.

"Yes, father," said Apollo. Poseidon reluctantly handed his daughter to the god of healing, who flashed to the infirmary in his temple.

Ares sat in silence with the other Olympians waiting for Apollo to return. A couple of minutes later, the god flashed back in and took his seat.

"The girl will be fine," the Fates spoke up, causing Ares to jump, startled, as he had forgotten that they were present. "However, for the next week or so, she will be more emotional than usual. Do not push her or purposefully annoy her. Allow her to recover from this experience at her own pace. We would also suggest that you ensure one of you is her constant companion over the period of the next two weeks. This is for two reasons. The first is that it will be better if she not go through her emotional state alone. The second is so that she can be taught her Olympian duties." With that, the three Fates flashed out.

"Who do you think should be Percy's companion over the next two weeks, Athena?" questioned Zeus.

"Apollo would be ideal as she will most likely spend a day or two in the infirmary. However, he has duties as the sun god. Poseidon would be my next choice, but he has his realm to look after. Most of us Olympians are busy dealing with the aftermath of the war," Athena replied, her brow furrowed.

"Demeter, are you available for the job?" asked Zeus.

"I am spending all my free time with my Kore, before she must go down to the Underworld," Demeter said, shaking her head and throwing an angry look towards Hades.

Zeus groaned. "All that leaves is Ares."

"What?! Absolutely not. I'm not babysitting the punk!" exclaimed the war god.

"As much as I hate to, I must agree, with Ares," said Athena. "Percy and the war god do not have the best of relationships. It would not end well to put the two together."

"Can you come up with any other god that is currently available, Athena?" asked Zeus.

"Well, there is Hestia," suggested Artemis, not wanting to force a maiden to deal with the hot tempered god of war for two whole weeks.

"I'm afraid I cannot take up that position." Hestia shook her head. "I, too, am a new Olympian. I need to become reaccustomed to my duties before I can teach another."

"Ares, we have no choice but to give you the job. Teach Percy everything you can about being an Olympian. Follow the Fates' instructions and do not provoke her temper. Meeting adjourned," Zeus said briskly.

Thirteen Olympians flashed out, leaving a grumbling Ares behind.

**A/N: **What did you guys think? Please review. I think my next update will be on Thursday or Friday.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **This is my first story, so please review. Constructive criticism will be much appreciated. Also, if anyone can come up with a better summary than the one I have posted as they read the story, please send it to me. I know it's not as good as it could be, and I would definitely like a better one. Thanks to everyone that reviewed my story. The characters may seem a little OCC in this chapter, but the reason why will be explained in later chapters. It's all part of the story and has been done on purpose. I now present Chapter 3...

**Chapter 3**

**Percy POV**

Percy jolted awake with tears streaming down her cheeks. She put her face in her hands, trying to escape the horror of her nightmares. No, her _memories. _Gabe had been beating her unconscious - just like he did every evening when she came home from school. As her shoulders shook from her sobs, a hand was placed on her back.

"Don't touch me!" she yelped, scooting as far away from the hand as she could.

"Jackson?" she heard a voice ask.

She knew that voice. That voice belonged to someone who had never... _hurt_ her in the way Gabe had. She seemed to recall a fight, but she'd been able to hold her own. She was _safe. _Gabe and his friends wouldn't be here.

Percy lifted her tear-stained face and turned it in the direction the voice had come from. "Ares? Is that you?"

"Who else would it be, punk?" asked Ares, eyebrows raised in amusement.

"Thank the gods," breathed Percy, throwing herself at him.

"Whoa! What do you think you're doing?" asked Ares, holding the green-eyed goddess up awkwardly.

"Sorry." Percy blushed embarrassed, backing away. "I was just glad _it _wasn't real. Well, that it wasn't still happening." She corrected herself, expression darkening.

"Glad what wasn't real?" asked Ares. He didn't seem to be mocking her. He sounded honestly curious.

"I-" Percy faltered, then hissed, "It's none of your business."

"I was just asking." Ares raised his hands in surrender.

"What are you doing here, anyways?" Percy asked changing the subject. She began washing her face with water from a glass near the bed she was on.

"I've been assigned to teach you about your duties as an Olympian over the next two weeks," Ares replied.

"Okay. And how long was I out?" The Olympian goddess began to heal the small cuts on her hands with water.

"A couple of hours. Athena thought you'd be out for at least a day," said Ares. He laughed a bit. "Finally something that wisdom goddess got wrong."

Percy realized the war god was watching her intently. "What do you think you're looking at?" she asked hotly.

"Nothing! What's your problem, anyways? I'm talking to you, so of course I'll look at you. What am I supposed to look at? The floor?" Ares asked angrily.

"My problem?" Percy answered in an equally angry tone as she tried to take her mind off of her nightmare and the memories that plagued her. "My problem is you. Why are you babysitting me anyways? I didn't ask for you to!"

"Well, I didn't ask to, either!" Ares exclaimed angrily. He seemed to remember something and after a pause quietly added, "Look, we're stuck with each other for the next two weeks. Let's try to make the best of them and not spend the whole time at each others throats. Truce?"

He put his hand out and Percy looked at suspiciously for a moment before looking up at the war god's face. He seemed genuine in his want for a truce. Percy slowly extended her hand as well and shook his. "Truce," she confirmed. "So," she said, reclaiming her hand. "What are you teaching me first?"

"You feel good enough to get up?" Ares asked, obviously surprised.

_'Not really," _thought Percy. _'But if I'm ever going to lock those memories of Gabe away again, I need to get up and act like nothing's wrong.'_

Instead, she said, "Yup! Let's go!"

"Okay..." said Ares uncertainly. "But if you start feeling unwell or weak we need to come right back. I don't need Apollo trying to kill me."

"Is the great war god scared of the god of healing?" teased Percy.

"No! I could pound his skull in without even trying!" shouted Ares in denial.

The Olympian goddess just laughed, glad of the distraction an angry war god provided.

Ares growled in displeasure at her teasing and changed the subject, "As an Olympian you'll get a palace of your own. I'll take you to where it's being built. Your boyfriend - that son of Athena - is probably over there designing it, right now. Maybe he'll take you off my hands for while."

Percy froze. "That - that's not such a good idea."

"Jackson? You okay? You're turning pale," Ares said.

_'Is he worried?'_ Percy wondered, finding the very idea unbelievable. This was the blood-lusting war god she was thinking about. Of _course_ he wasn't worried.

The raven-haired goddess waved her hand, shrugging off Ares question. "I'm perfectly fine. But, like I said, it's not a good idea to-" she cut herself off, a sly smile making its way onto her face. "Actually, let's go. I have some... business to attend to with my _boyfriend_," she sneered.

"You look like you want to kill him," stated Ares.

"Oh, I do," hissed Percy.

"In that case, let me know if you want some help." Ares laughed in anticipation of the violence that would soon take place.

"I don't think I'll need any help, but if I do, I'll be sure to let you know," said Percy, grinning wildly.

"Let's go, then," said Ares, motioning towards the door.

Percy stood up slowly, stretching her muscles. She pulled Riptide out of her pocket, and gripping the pen tightly, followed Ares out the door.

**A/N: **I made a point to get Percy and Ares mad at each other in this chapter, but I also had them make up quickly because I wanted to show that Ares doesn't always hold pointless grudges the way he does in the books. As I'm sure you can all guess, Percy is going to confront Anthony in the next chapter. Anyways, next chapter will probably be out on Saturday, but no guarantees because I have a four-day long wedding to attend and it starts today.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **This is my first story, so please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will also be much appreciated. Thanks to everyone that reviewed my story. And now, for Chapter 4...

**Chapter 4**

**Ares POV**

Ares had been surprised when Percy had woken up in just a few hours instead of the day or two Athena had predicted.

He was even more surprised when she began to sob.

Confusion hit him in waves as she flinched away from his touch one moment, and the next was throwing herself at him.

He became curious when Percy acted defensive about her dream. Especially when she made it sound like it was a memory, rather than just a simple nightmare.

He felt foolish when he provoked her temper - it was the exact opposite of the Fates' instructions.

He felt a surge of pride when he managed to calm the goddess down enough to make a truce with her.

Her reactions to the upcoming meeting with her boyfriend were also confusing. But he also felt respect when he realized that she wasn't so besotted with the son of Athena that she wouldn't pick a fight with him.

But the most prominent feeling was one of confusion. He was confused about why he had been so gentle with the raven haired girl. Well, not gentle by the standards of most, but definitely gentle by his standards. He figured it might have something to do with the fact that he had felt what she had throughout her life. But was he being gentle because he felt pity about how terrible her life seemed to have been? That seemed to be the only possible reason, but it didn't fit with his usual character. Usually, if someone was going through a hard time, he'd tell them to suck it up and get a move on. He wouldn't pity them.

Ares banished his thoughts. There was no point in puzzling over things. No, that was Athena's department. All _he_ needed to do was be violent and fight in wars.

The black haired god turned his head to make sure the daughter of the sea was following him. He found her striding confidently just behind him. Her face was stoic, but her hand was clenched tightly around a pen. As Ares studied the girl more closely, he realized there was pain, fear and anger hidden in her sea green eyes. Her features occasionally contorted into a look of concentration - the sort of look that made him think she was trying to stop thinking about something.

Ares slowed his pace down a notch and fell back next to Percy. She looked up at him questioningly, eyebrows raised. "I thought I should let you know I'm going to take you to Aphrodite next. You need new clothes."

Percy looked down at her clothes which were ripped and caked with mud from the earlier war. "Thanks. That's probably a good idea."

"Here we are," said Ares a few moments later, as they reached an large lawn. "Your palace will be built here."

Percy looked around for a moment, approval showing clearly on her face. Then her eyes zoomed in on the distant figure of Anthony where he sat in the grass, head bent over a drawing pad. Her face displayed uncertainty for a moment, but then a steel appeared in her eyes and she stalked up to the son of Athena, with Ares close behind.

Anthony looked up as he heard rustling grass, his demigod instincts still sharp. A smile was displayed on his face when he saw Percy. He stood up. "Percy! Thank the gods you're alright. When mom told me to design this palace for you, she said you'd fainted."

The boy pulled Percy in for a kiss, and Ares looked down in disappointment. He figured the girl would forget about whatever problem she had with the boy and just give in to the kiss. He had been hoping that Percy wouldn't be like that, and would prove to be worthy of his respect. It looked like he was about to be let down...

However, a moment later, Ares heard a resounding slap. He looked up to find that the goddess had pushed the boy away and slapped him so hard it left a red hand print on his cheek.

"Percy? What was that for?" asked Anthony, shocked. He cradled his cheek in his hand.

Percy seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then she continued, "What do _you _think it was for?"

"Have you gone crazy, Percy? I've done nothing to deserve this!" Anthony gestured towards his cheek.

"No? You haven't been cheating on me for Hades knows how long?" asked Percy angrily.

Ares gasped, surprised. From what Aphrodite had told him, Percy and Anthony were an unbreakable couple - they were perfect for each other.

"I would never cheat on you!" exclaimed Anthony.

Percy tensed, and Ares could tell she was holding herself back from making the fight physical. "Then I'm _sure_ you can explain what you were doing with Lavinia down in the engine room on the Argo II!"

Anthony sighed. "Fine! I slipped up, alright? I started cheating on you after Tartarus, but I broke it off with Lavinia earlier today. I'm sorry."

Percy's fists clenched and her body was practically vibrating with anger. "So you cheated on me because I was - am - a little broken after everything we faced in Tartarus and you didn't want to deal with all of my problems. But then, when I became an Olympian, you realized dating me would be the best way to gain power." Percy shook her head, showing her disappointment. "You've given into fatal flaw, Anthony. You've given into your hubris. We're... done." Percy's voice broke at the end.

As she turned away, Anthony's hand closed around her wrist. Percy pulled away, yelping. She stumbled back a few steps, breathing heavily, as though fighting off a panic attack.

"Percy? Percy, are you okay?" Anthony asked, moving towards her and grabbing her shoulders.

Percy flinched away from his touch. She fell to the ground and curled into a ball.

Ares moved forward, concerned. Anthony moved to touch the trembling goddess again, but Ares swatted his hands away, saying, "Can't you see she doesn't want to be touched?"

"What do you know?" sneered Anthony. "You're just the dumb war god."

"The real question is, what do _you_ know? You're just the cheating, ex-boyfriend, after all," said Ares through gritted teeth. "I would suggest you leave, now. I hardly think Jackson wants to see your face."

Anthony flinched, but flashed away as Ares balled up his fists.

Uncertain, of what to do to help the hyperventilating goddess, Ares sat down next to her. He decided a threat might do the trick. "Jackson, if you don't want me to call Apollo - who will probably confine you to your bed for a week - you better get yourself together right now." Percy didn't stop trembling, so Ares tried a more violent threat. "If you don't snap out of it, punk, I'm going to punch your lights out."

As Ares finished speaking, Percy stiffened, but took a few deep breaths and then looked up and dried her eyes.

"What was that all about?" asked Ares.

"Nothing," growled Percy. Her body was still tensed, and her eyes were darting around. When they met his, the war god saw fear and panic in them.

_'Great! Now she's scared of me,'_ thought Ares. He groaned mentally. His goal hadn't been to scare her. He'd just wanted her to stop freaking out.

"Are you taking me to Aphrodite's, or what?" asked Percy. Her tone was impatient, but Ares could tell the bravado was forced.

"Yeah. Come on."

**A/N: **What do you think? Was it too dramatic? I tried to show that Ares usually takes the violent approach to solving problems. He doesn't really know when he needs to be gentle. Please review. Next chapter will probably come out on Tuesday or Wednesday. We'll see. I'm not sure how busy I'll be.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **This is my first story, so please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will also be much appreciated. Thanks to everyone that reviewed my story. A special thanks to PoseidonsHeir16 for reassuring me about Ares' character. I had been worried that I'm not portraying Ares in the correct way. Percy gets a little emotional in this chapter. As a reminder, she _did_ just break up, and the natural reaction is usually to cry. Also, I want to clarify something. Gabe is alive - Sally didn't petrify him with Medusa's head. Even after Percy found out she was a demigod, Gabe continued to abuse her during the school year. I am now presenting Chapter 5...

**Chapter 5**

**Percy's POV**

Percy trailed behind Ares as they walked to Aphrodite's palace. She forced herself to walk confidently. If she kept up the facade of a strong goddess, she would eventually become that goddess. For almost the entirety of her life, she'd been pretending that she was perfectly fine - that nothing was wrong. She couldn't wait for the day that she wouldn't have to pretend to be strong anymore. She couldn't wait to actually be strong.

_'Curling into a ball and crying certainly doesn't come across as strong!' _she thought angrily. _'So what if Anthony grabbed me around the arm the same way Gabe used to? I need to stop reacting so poorly to anything even reminiscent of my time with Gabe.'_

Percy was pulled out of her mental beration when Ares knocked on the door to a white marble palace with pink highlights.

"Come in!" called a feminine voice from inside.

Ares pushed the door open. "Aphrodite? It's Ares and Percy."

Aphrodite squealed and ran over to them. As beautiful as ever, she was wearing a white and pink Greek chiton with a golden belt. "Percy! I've been hoping you'd come here. I absolutely need to get you a brand new wardrobe! Come _on_!"

She grabbed Percy around the wrist and began tugging her over to a room. Percy stiffened and forced herself to take deep breaths, continuously chanting under her breath, "Not Gabe. Not Gabe. Not Gabe."

Aphrodite turned around to face Ares, "You can wait out here or wander around. Your pick."

Ares nodded and Aphrodite turned around. She dragged Percy into a gray and pink marble room and shut the wooden door.

"Okay! We need to get you something to wear for now." She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "You current outfit is practically falling apart on you. Do you want a dress?"

"I'd rather stick with jeans, if that's alright," said Percy distractedly, looking around the room. It was spacious, with several walk-in closets and a bathroom. In the corner of the room was an elegant chocolate brown dresser. Two matching chairs were in front of it.

Aphrodite nodded and entered a walk-in closet. Humming to herself, the goddess of love tossed out a pair of black jeans, a sea-green tank top and a black leather jacket. Entering another closet she tossed out a pair of black high-heeled leather boots. "Put these on. Then, we need to talk. Oh! There's a bathtub over there. You might want to get some dirt off."

Percy followed Aphrodite's instructions and took a quick dip in the tub, manipulating the water to scrub all the dirt away. She pulled the clothes on quickly and went to sit by Aphrodite. "What do we need to talk about?"

"Anthercy, of course! I need all the latest gossip." Aphrodite clapped her hands together like a little girl.

"Anthercy? What the Hades is that?" asked Percy.

"It's your ship name. Your name and Anthony's combined," explained the love goddess.

Percy's face fell. "We broke up," she said abruptly.

"What?!" Aphrodite screamed. "You _can't_ break up. You're perfect for each other. You're in _love_ with each other!"

Percy just looked down, unable to say anything.

Aphrodite's face softened and she asked gently, "How did you break up?

"I- He was cheating on me. With Lavinia. I didn't do anything while we were on the Argo II - I couldn't break the Seven apart. But, earlier today, since the prophecy was over, I broke up with him,' Percy tried to keep her voice emotionless, but she couldn't stop the tear that ran down her cheek.

"You poor girl!" Aphrodite pulled Percy into a hug, and Percy, unable to hold her emotions at bay any longer buried her face into Aphrodite's shoulder and cried her heart out.

"I just don't understand! I jumped into Tartarus for him! Why would he cheat on me?" she whispered brokenly.

"I don't know. I just don't know. But I can tell you that I had nothing to do with this. I know I told you that I would mess with your love life a few years ago, but I swear on the Styx, this had nothing to do with me." Aphrodite said. Thunder sounded, sealing her promise.

"I know. I don't think you could be that heartless," Percy said, pulling away from the hug. She dried her tears and gave a small smile. "Anyways, lets talk about something else."

Aphrodite looked at her with concern for a moment, before nodding. "I'll have clothes sent to you every morning. If you don't like what I send - which is unlikely - you can come over and pick something out yourself. If you want fashion advice, or help with makeup or anything else, come visit me. I'd love to help."

Percy nodded. "Thanks, Aphrodite. I should go now. Ares is probably getting impatient," she said.

"Yeah, he can definitely get irritated when he has to wait," Aphrodite said getting up.

She opened the door and the two goddesses walked out together. Ares was outside, pacing. He looked up. "Finally! Took you two long enough. Let's go. The rest of the Seven just Iris Messaged me. They said they want they wanted to get together with you for dinner."

Percy stopped walking - she wasn't sure if she could face Anthony and Lavinia. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Let's go. I can hardly keep the great Seven waiting." She smirked, forcing the mask of being a 'Seaweed Brain' to the surface.

She led the way out of Aphrodite's palace, back straight, and body posture radiating confidence. On the inside, though, she was falling apart, and could barely find the energy to keep her mask up.

**A/N: **I know the ending is a bit... negative. I wanted to portray Percy's inner turmoil, though. Anyways, what do you all think? Please, please, please review. The dinner with the Seven will most likely go quickly, so I'll probably get to the part with Gabe sometime in the next two chapters. How heavy of a role do you think Ares should play in how Percy deals with Gabe? The next chapter will probably be up by Thursday evening.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will also be especially appreciated. Thanks to everyone that has reviewed my story so far. Special thanks to Jasmine112 for reviewing every single one of my chapters. And now, I will present to you Chapter 6...

**Chapter 6**

**Percy POV**

"Jackson!" called Ares.

Percy stopped striding ahead and turned with a questioning look on her face.

"It'll easier to flash to the restaurant the Seven want to meet you at. It's on the other side of Olympus," explained Ares.

"Okay... How do I flash?" asked Percy.

"You just have to picture the place you want to go to and wish that you were there. But you've never been to the restaurant, so I'll flash you there," said Ares.

He held out his hand and Percy hesitantly accepted it. Ares closed his eyes and Percy felt a huge rush of wind against her face as a collage of colors surrounded her for a moment.

Percy gasped in surprise as everything came to a halt. "What _was_ that?"

"That was flashing. It is an extremely fast form of air travel. You should generally keep your eyes closed. If you travel over large distances, you can get dizzy and nauseous," said Ares, letting go of Percy's hand.

Percy nodded in understanding and examined her surroundings. She was in an open air restaurant. For the most part it was empty. However, one table was filled with some very familiar people - the rest of the Seven.

"Hey guys," said Percy.

"Percy!" exclaimed Hazel, standing up to hug her.

Percy stiffened during the hug, not liking the physical contact, but Hazel gave no indication of having noticed.

Jason, Frank and Piper hugged Percy in turn. Lavinia and Anthony remained seated, Lavinia awkwardly looking anywhere but at Percy, and Anthony staring at Percy.

"Jackson, I'll be going now. I'll be back in three hours to get you," said Ares gruffly.

"Sure," replied Percy, glancing back towards him. Ares flashed away and Percy turned her attention to the two immortals that were still seated. "Lavinia," she said softly. "May I speak to you in private."

The elfish girl looked up, uncertain. Anthony grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. Percy's eyes narrowed as she caught the gesture.

Lavinia looked down at the boy's hand and nodded. She stood up and the two goddesses walked out of the restaurant together.

"Percy, look, I'm sorry. I just-" Lavinia started.

"Lavinia, it's alright. I understand. You've never had much luck in terms of relationships, and Anthony is – he's easy to fall for," said Percy gently.

"I never meant to hurt you. It just happened one day, and after that, it just escalated. I told him he should break up with you. He just-"

"He just kept putting it off," finished Percy. "Look, I'm mad at Anthony and I don't know if I can forgive him. But we've always been close - the two light-hearted ones of the group - and I don't want a boy to come between us."

Lavinia looked up hopefully. "You really mean it?"

"Yeah." Percy laughed harshly. "After all my fatal flaw _is_ personal loyalty. Besides, in a way it might be easier if I'm not with him. He always reminds me of Tartarus and-" Percy broke off with a shudder as memories of the pit overwhelmed her.

Lavinia grabbed her hand and Percy forced herself to not flinch at the sudden, unexpected contact. "If you ever want to talk about something - even your time down _there _- don't hesitate to come to me. And for the record, loyalty is a pretty awesome fatal flaw." Lavinia gave her usual grin.

Percy smiled too, then frowned. "Did Anthony really break up with you earlier?"

"Yeah," said Lavinia. "He said he wasn't feeling good about cheating on you."

"But you're together now?" asked Percy.

Lavinia nodded. "He told me about your break up and asked if I'd give him a second chance. I said yes."

"I take it the others don't know yet," said Percy. "Let's not break it to them yet. I don't want to ruin the first time we meet after the war with accusations."

Lavinia smiled gratefully and the two girls re-entered the restaurant. The others looked at them curiously, but the girls remained silent about what they had spoken of. Lavinia reclaimed her seat next to Anthony, while Percy sat next to Hazel at the other end of the table.

"I can't believe we've finally gotten rid of Gaea!" exclaimed Piper.

"It'll be hard to get used to not looking over our shoulders all the time," agreed Percy.

"Percy, what happened after the Fates ordered us out of the throne room?" asked Frank.

Percy hesitated. She didn't want to tell her friends how painful it had been to relive her memories. That would raise too many questions. "The Fates forced the Olympians to feel the emotions I did as I saw my life again," she answered shortly.

"Including Tartarus?" asked Anthony, hesitantly.

Percy flinched at the memories of the pit that sprang up. "Yeah." When she noticed the concerned expressions on her friends faces, she added, "That part went by pretty fast."

The others relaxed and the conversation moved on to other topics. They shared what they were thinking of doing over the next few weeks and how relieved they were that the war was finally over. Percy took part in the conversation, finally relaxing. She was able to ignore the memories of Gabe and Tartarus and focus on happier things.

However, before she knew it, night had fallen and the Seven stood to say their farewells and then leave. As the last of Percy's friends left, Ares flashed in.

"Ready to go?" asked the war god.

Percy nodded. "To the infirmary?"

"Yes. I'll flash us there." Ares held his hand out and Percy grabbed it. The two Olympians closed their eyes, only to open them again a moment later.

The two let go of each others hands and Percy sat on the bed. "I guess you'll be going to your palace, now," said Percy.

The war god shook his head. "No, I'll be sleeping in the room next door," said Ares. "Also, Apollo said to tell you that if you need anything to just call for him." The war god left without another word.

Percy rolled her eyes at his gruffness. Changing into the pyjamas Aphrodite had left for her, the goddess climbed into bed. Hoping for a peaceful night, she closed her eyes and drifted off.

**A/N: **What did you think? The dinner with the Seven wasn't really important. However, I wanted to show that Percy is still affected by her fatal flaw, which is why she forgave Lavinia so easily. I can use the next chapter to either develop Percy's relationship with Ares or deal with Gabe. What do you guys want me to do? Chapter 7 will be out on Saturday or Sunday. Please review.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will also be especially appreciated. Thank you to everyone that has reviewed my story so far. I got ten reviews after the last chapter telling me that I should deal with Gabe first. Somebody (a guest) suggested that I should develop Ares and Percy's relationship through this - I really liked that idea and decided to use it. **THERE WILL BE A BIT OF ABUSE IN THIS CHAPTER. THERE WILL ALSO BE A DEATH. IF YOU DON'T FEEL COMFORTABLE READING THAT PLEASE READ THE SUMMARY I WILL PROVIDE AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER.** And now, since according to your reviews you've all been waiting excitedly, I'm going to give you Chapter 7...

**Chapter 7**

**Percy POV**

Percy woke up in the morning when light streamed in through the windows and hit her eyelids. She rubbed sleep out of her eyes and yawned, trying to banish the nightmares that had kept her awake half the night. The immortal stood and stretched. She pulled on the black leather pants and the turquoise top with green highlights that had been left at the foot of her bed by Aphrodite. She also tugged on the leather boots she had been wearing the day before. As she finished getting ready a sharp knock sounded on her door.

The raven-haired goddess opened the door to find Ares. "Good morning."

Ares nodded back, gruffly. "I thought I'd have to wake you, or at least wait for you to get ready," he said in a somewhat surprised tone.

"I'm an early riser," explained Percy, shrugging. She didn't tell him that the reason she woke always woke up so quickly was to get away from her nightmares.

"Any plans for today?" asked Ares.

Percy thought for a moment, and then let a smirk spread across her face. "Yes, actually. I'm going down to New York."

"We're not allowed to interfere with mortal lives," warned Ares.

Percy shrugged. "I need to tell my mom I'm a goddess. Plus, Zeus _did_ give me permission to kill a mortal of my choosing."

"You don't strike me as the type of person that would go around killing mortals," commented the black-haired war god.

"Just one mortal," corrected the petite girl.

"And what did this mortal do to you?" asked Ares, curiously.

Percy hesitated, but decided she might as well reply. "He made my life miserable," she spat.

Ares eyebrows rose. "Will you be elaborating on that?"

Percy shook her head. "Can I have a knife made of mortal metals?"

Ares pulled a dagger and sheath out of one of the pockets of his leather jacket. The war god tossed the weapon to her.

"Thank you," she said, attaching the sheath to her belt. "I'm going now. I'll flash you down to my apartment so you can come get me if you need me for something."

"No breakfast?" asked the war god.

"No, I'll just have some at my mom's. She might have some of those blue cookies." Percy grinned.

Percy held her hand out and the war god took it. The two closed their eyes. Percy imagined the outside of her mother's apartment and wished she was there. The raven-haired goddess felt power surging through her and gasped in surprise. A moment later she opened her eyes and found herself facing a beat up wooden door.

Percy turned to face Ares. "I'll see you later," she said.

Ares nodded. "If you're not back in an hour or two, I'll assume you got caught up in torturing the mortal you want to kill and will come back to get you," he said.

"You know, you seem almost responsible sometimes," Percy murmured amused. "The only thing that ruins it is that you look like you'd rather participate in the torture than pull me away from it."

Ares grinned, and then flashed out.

Percy knocked on the door. "Mom? It's Percy!"

When no reply came, the sea-green eyed Olympian pulled a key out from under the welcome mat in front of the door. She unlocked the door and hid the key again. She stepped into the apartment carefully - the lights were turned off and she didn't want to trip on something.

A blinding pain flashed through the girl as a fist made contact with her side. Percy stumbled away, clutching her side in pain.

"Where have you been? You've been gone for the better part of a year. I've missed my punching bag," came a disembodied voice from somewhere in the room.

"Gabe," gasped Percy.

"Good," said Gabe, flipping the lights on. "You remember me. I was worried you would have forgotten all our fun times together."

"Where's my mom?" asked Percy.

"She's out working," replied Gabe. "Which means we have a few hours to relive all our fun times."

He stalked up to her and caught her off guard, slapping her across the cheek. He then followed up with a punch to her stomach. Percy fell down, gasping in pain and coughing up golden ichor. She had come to kill Gabe, but now she was living some of her worst nightmares. She couldn't find the strength to stand up to man who had abused her all her life. Instead, she curled up into a ball.

Gabe laughed maniacally. The door to the house opened, but Percy barely registered it as memories of years of abuse poured into her mind.

A strangled gasp drew Percy's attention, however, and she looked up.

"Ares?" she choked out over the ichor dribbling from her mouth.

The war god was holding her step-father against the wall by the throat, a look of rage twisting his face.

"This is who you wanted to kill, Jackson?" questioned Ares.

Percy nodded mutely, fear still overwhelming her.

Ares pulled his fist back to punch Gabe in the face, but Percy stopped him with a whisper, "No."

Ares looked back at her, confused, but put his fist down, nonetheless.

Percy shook her head. "_I_ need to do this." The goddess grit her teeth against the pain shooting through her abdomen and pushed herself up.

Ares nodded in what seemed like respect and dropped Gabe who fell to the floor, gasping for air.

Percy slowly walked up to the man who had abused her since she was four. "I should torture you, you know," she said.

Gabe let out a small whimper in reply.

Percy laughed harshly. "Don't worry. I won't. You want to know why?"

Gabe just stared at her, unresponsive.

"Because I'm not weak! You've always said that I am, but now I've realized that you're the weak one. I mean, only a weak person would prey on a four year old," Percy walked a bit closer to the man with each word.

Gabe, obviously frightened by the insane gleam in her eyes, scooted away from her.

"But have you ever been to Tartarus?" continued Percy. "No! You haven't. But I have. And I found out that my life here with you was almost as bad as a trip through Tartarus. I realized that only someone who was _strong_ could go through what I did every day and still remain sane. Still be able to go on with life." Suddenly, Percy snorted. "You know, come to think of it, I don't know that I'm sane anymore."

With that, the girl drew her dagger out of it's sheath and raised it above her head before plunging it down into Gabe's heart in one smooth movement. She pulled the weapon out and watched in an almost satisfied manner as the life left his eyes.

**Summary: **Percy goes down to her apartment in New York to kill Gabe and meet her mother. However, when she enters, Gabe begins to hit her instead. Before much damage can be done, Ares appears and stops Gabe. Percy then vents her feeling about Gabe before killing him.

**A/N: **Percy was bleeding ichor. Gabe didn't notice this because of the mist. He saw it as normal, red blood. Also, some of you might find Percy to be OCC with the whole insanity thing. But if you think about it, you can't really go through Tartarus and remain completely sane. This chapter obviously didn't have the bonding between Ares and Percy that some of you wanted. However that will occur in the next chapter. The next chapter will be from Ares POV. You have two options for the next chapter. Either it can start from where Ares re-enters the scene and defends Percy - that way you can read what he thinks about what's going on - or I can give a quick summary of what happened from Ares POV like I have in previous chapters when I write from his POV. What do you guys think? I'm personally leaning towards the first option, but I will still take your opinions into account. Please review and let me know.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will also be especially appreciated. Thank you to everyone that has reviewed my story so far. This is the chapter where Ares and Percy's relationship begins to develop. **THERE WILL BE A BIT OF ABUSE IN THIS CHAPTER. THERE WILL ALSO BE A DEATH. IF YOU DON'T FEEL COMFORTABLE READING THAT PLEASE READ THE SUMMARY I WILL PROVIDE AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER.** I got nine reviews! Thank you. And now - chapter 8.

**Chapter 8**

**Ares POV**

_'I completely forgot!' _thought Ares. _'Father wanted me to tell Jackson that she needs to attend the council meeting today..'_

Ares flashed himself back to Percy's apartment. He opened the door and let himself in. He glanced around, barely able to believe the scene that was playing out in front of him. Percy was curled up on the floor, whimpering. A man was standing over her, hand raised as though he was about to hit her. Ares face hardened into a snarl as the man's fist began its downward descent. He ran forward and grabbed the man by the throat and held him up against a wall.

The man let out a strangled gasp and Percy looked up.

"Ares?" she choked out over the ichor dribbling from her mouth.

The war god's anger only increased when he saw that she was bleeding and injured. "This is who you wanted to kill, Jackson?" he questioned.

Percy nodded mutely, fear clearly showing in her eyes.

That fear caused Ares to pull his fist back in preparation for punching the scared and confused man in front of him in the face.

Just before he could smash the man's nose in, Percy whispered, "No."

Ares looked back at her, unsure of why she would be protecting the man, but put his fist down, nonetheless.

Percy shook her head. "_I_ need to do this." The goddess grit her teeth, obviously in pain, but managed to stand up.

Ares nodded in respect. He doubted that most would have the guts to deal with someone who had abused them. He let go of the man, who fell to the floor, gasping for air.

Percy slowly walked up to the man. "I should torture you, you know," she said.

Gabe let out a small whimper in reply.

Percy laughed harshly. "Don't worry. I won't. You want to know why?"

Gabe just stared at her, unresponsive.

"Because I'm not weak! You've always said that I am, but now I've realized that you're the weak one. I mean, only a weak person would prey on a four year old," Percy walked a bit closer to the man with each word.

Ares' eyes widened in shock. He couldn't believe that Percy had been abused since she was four.

Gabe scooted away from the goddess.

"But have you ever been to Tartarus?" continued Percy. "No! You haven't. But I have. And I found out that my life here with you was almost as bad as a trip through Tartarus. I realized that only someone who was _strong_ could go through what I did every day and still remain sane. Still be able to go on with life." Suddenly, Percy snorted. "You know, come to think of it, I don't know that I'm sane anymore."

Ares found himself nodding in agreement with her speech. Nobody could be in their right mind after going through what Percy did for years on end.

Ares watched as Percy drew her dagger out of it's sheath and raised it above her head before plunging it down into Gabe's heart in one smooth movement. She pulled the weapon out and watched in a satisfied manner as the life left the man's eyes.

Ares broke the silence that had ensued since the man had been killed. "Jackson?"

The girl seemed to suddenly deflate as her trance was broken. Her knees gave out from under her and she would have fallen had Ares not darted forward and caught her.

Holding her close - her back to his chest - he asked, "You okay?"

Percy shrugged, as well as she could in her collapsed state. "Better than I have been in a long time," she murmured, a soft smile on her face.

Ares picked her up bridal style and set her down on a nearby sofa. "Are you hurt?" asked the war god, brow furrowing.

"A little. He punched me a couple of of times. I think he cracked one or two of my ribs. There's some ambrosia in the kitchen. Closest drawer to the fridge." She pointed towards a door.

Ares nodded and walked over to the door, skirting around the corpse. He opened it and slipped into the kitchen. Ares hurried over to the fridge and opened the drawer closest to it. He was surprised to find a celestial bronze dagger in it along with several plastic bags full of ambrosia and a couple of small bottles that contained nectar. He grabbed a square of ambrosia and hurried back to the goddess.

He figured Percy was in shock. The combination of that and the pain she was in probably was what resulted in her collapsing like that.

Percy accepted the ambrosia gratefully and ate it. The smile on her face widened as her pains disappeared. She sat up and motioned for Ares to join her on the sofa. "Thank you," she said.

"For what?" asked Ares.

"For coming at the right time. For letting me kill him. For getting me ambrosia. For being here," explained Percy, shrugging.

The war god nodded in understanding. He hesitated, but then asked, "Who was he?"

"My step-father, Gabe," replied Percy, looking down.

Ares' eyes widened. Her own step-father had abused her. "When did he start abusing you?"

"I was four. I'd accidentally knocked his beer over when I tripped over the carpet." Percy closed her eyes as she remembered. "Mom wasn't home. He was already half drunk and he got mad. I ended up unconscious and bleeding." A shudder ran through her body.

Ares gently placed his hand on her back. The goddess stiffened under his touch but then relaxed and leaned back into it.

_'It makes sense' _realized Ares. _'When the Fates made us feel her emotions, the fear and pain we felt was during her time with Gabe.'_

"It'll be alright, now that you've killed him," said Ares. "But why didn't you kill him when you first found out that you were a demigod."

"His _stench_ was the only thing that allowed me to live with my mother safely. I'd rather be beat up everyday than put her in danger," replied Percy.

Ares was shocked by her selflessness. His respect for her had grown greatly over the past few days, but that one statement sent it skyrocketing. "That... that takes guts," marvelled the war god.

"Thank you," said Percy. She stood up, a little unsteady on her feet, but otherwise fine. "We need to dispose of Gabe's body. I don't want my mom to see him."

"I'll flash him to some alley. The police will assume some criminal killed him," offered Ares.

"That would be amazing. Thank you," said Percy.

Suddenly, shocking, but also pleasing the war god, Percy wrapped her arms around him. Ares hesitantly hugged her back.

**Summary: **After what happens last chapter, Ares and Percy talk about Gabe and how long he had abused her for. Ares' respect for Percy grows tremendously and a friendship seems to sprout between the two. At the end, Percy hugs Ares.

**A/N: **Some of you might find Ares to be OCC because he was gentle with Percy. However, Ares in the books Ares doesn't respect anybody. This is how I imagine he would act if he respected someone. At this point, Percy is going to start healing mentally. Next chapter, we'll meet Sally. I'll try to get it out soon, but I'm going to be really busy for the next month or so, getting ready for school to start again. Please review. Tell me what you liked and what you didn't like. My dad thinks the only point for me to do fanfiction is if I improve my writing, so I would appreciate it I got some constructive criticism.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will also be especially appreciated. Thank you to everyone that has reviewed my story so far. This chapter is more of just a filler as I work on how to make the next couple of chapters interesting. It's sort of a continuation of where last chapter left off. (Percy had just hugged Ares.) And now - chapter 9.

**Chapter 9**

**Percy POV**

Percy let go of Ares, blushing. She wasn't sure why exactly she had hugged the war god. She guessed it was because she was emotional after the ordeal with Gabe and memories that had been overwhelming her ever since the Fates had forced her to relive her memories.

Whatever her reason had been, she was grateful that Ares didn't comment on her display of affection. He just walked over to Gabe's corpse, and placing a hand on it, flashed out, taking the body with him.

Percy grabbed some cleaning supplies from various places around the house and began cleaning up the small puddle of blood Gabe had left on the wooden floor. Just as she had finished putting the supplies away several minutes later, Ares flashed in.

"Where did you leave him?" asked Percy.

"In some alley. I'd have been right back, but I had to fix the scene to make it look like he'd been attacked by somebody," explained the war god. He looked around. "You've got a nice place."

Percy raised an eyebrow in silent disbelief.

"If you look past the drugs and beer bottles everywhere and ignore the stench of alcohol," clarified Ares.

"I suppose so," agreed Percy.

She walked into the kitchen to grab a napkin. She wet it and turned around to find that the black haired god had followed her in. She began dabbing at her face in an attempt to clean the ichor off it. "Why'd you come back so soon?" she asked.

"I forgot to tell you that Zeus wants you present at the council meeting later today," replied Ares.

"I'm glad you came back," murmured Percy, smiling.

Ares nodded seriously. "I am too." He paused, then added, "If you ever want to talk about what happened between you Gabe, I'd be willing to listen. I mean, I know that someone else would probably be more appropriate, but I'm assuming that you want to keep this under wraps, so..."

"Thank you," said Percy, surprised that Ares was so... understanding. She'd always thought of him as an arrogant god that relied on brute strength and rarely thought anything through. However, in the last few days alone, she'd realized that was just what the side of him that he showed to people - that was what he was expected to be, so that was what he had become. He was somewhat like her in that aspect, actually. At camp, everybody looked up to her and expected her to be perfect, to be strong, so that was the type of person she had to become.

She returned her attention to cleaning her face as she and Ares stood in a peaceful silence. She finished up and made to throw the dirty napkin in the garbage when Ares stopped her by gently grabbing her arm. She looked up at him, confused.

"You missed a spot," he said, holding his hand out for the napkin.

Percy gave it to him. Ares stepped up close to her and tilted her chin up with one hand and with the other rubbed the napkin gently against her skin. A wave of nostalgia flooded through her as she remembered a time when Anthony would do things like that for her. She shook it away - Anthony wasn't a part of her life in that way anymore.

"Thank you," she said.

Ares smiled at her and placed the napkin in her hand. Percy stepped away from him and dropped the napkin into the garbage.

"When will your mother get back?" he asked as she turned back to face him.

"In a five hours. This is usually her day off - she must have been called in for an extra shift," Percy replied, glancing at the kitchen clock.

"I have to ask - did your mother know Gabe hit you?" asked Ares, an uncertain expression flickering over his face.

Percy shook her head. "No. After I found out I was Poseidon's daughter, I started healing myself with water after a beating. Before that, I told her the kids at school were bullying me and I would cover up as much as I could with make-up."

"Why didn't you tell your mom that Gabe was hitting you before you found out you were a half-blood?" asked Ares. He seemed honestly curious.

"He threatened to kill mom if I told her. I couldn't tell the police either - they'd never believe a kid." Percy's eyes closed and she shuddered as memories of Gabe's threats overwhelmed her.

Ares placed a hesitant hand on her back. The contact drew her from her memories with a jolt. She smiled at the war god gratefully.

"We should probably go to Olympus. The council meeting starts soon and Zeus will be upset if some of the Olympians are missing," said Ares.

Percy nodded and put her hand into the war god's outstretched one.

**A/N: **What do you guys think? I put in a small, sort of romantic moment there. I'm not sure if I'm moving too fast, but since the two have learned so much about each other in the past two days - more than anybody else knows about them - I'm trying to make their current relationship reflect that, while at the same time not implying that they have a crush on each other. Am I portraying that well enough? Next chapter should be the council meeting. For the next couple of weeks, updates will be a bit slower than usual. My mom's making me do a bunch of studying to get ready for the next school year. I'm pretty much hitting the books all day long. I will still try to do two updates a week, though. I loved that you guys tried to give me some constructive criticism after the last chapter. Thank you howtobecrazzy101. I will try to incorporate your advice into future chapters. Anyways, please review. Also, if you guys can think of cool chapter titles for all of the ones I've written so far, I'll add them in.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will also be especially appreciated. Thank you to everyone that has reviewed my story so far. It's been a little while since i've updated. Sorry about that. Anyways, here's the first chapter of the week.

**Chapter 10**

**Ares POV**

Ares flashed himself and Percy into the throne room. The other Olympians were already there, arguing over something or the other. Ares took a seat on his throne and watched Percy take a seat on a new throne that had appeared in the council room. It seemed to be made of water. The liquid continuously flowed into different images of heroes fighting monsters.

_'Why would Jackson's throne show images of fights?'_ wondered Ares. _'Oh, right. She's the goddess of swordfighting.'_

"Why are you late?" asked Zeus angrily, lightning crackling around him. The other gods fell silent, awaiting a reply.

Without batting an eye at the god's anger, Percy replied calmly, "You said I could kill a mortal. It took a bit longer than expected and I needed your son's help to dispose of the mortal's body, uncle."

"Very well," said Zeus. "You shall be excused this time. However, in the future be punctual. We have much to discuss, and tardiness is not tolerated."

Ares was surprised that his father didn't try to come up with some sort of punishment for Percy - it _was_ what Zeus would normally do. He shrugged off his curiosity, reminding himself that Percy was a new goddess and his father probably knew that it would take her a while to get used to her new responsibilities.

"To begin the council meeting, I would like to ask my niece how she is adjusting to her new powers," stated Zeus.

"I believe I am doing alright. Ares has shown me around a little bit and explained how to flash," replied Percy.

"Do you know what your duties entail?" Athena asked kindly.

Ares was surprised at her tone considering the fact that Percy was Poseidon's daughter. Then he remembered that Athena thought Percy was dating her son, Anthony.

Percy shook her head.

"As the goddess of heroes, you will be expected to check up on the two camps quite often. Once Dionysus's punishment has ended, you will be able to live in Camp Half-Blood if you so desire. You can do the same at Camp Jupiter, but it is not advised as the Romans have not had much physical contact with the gods," explained Athena.

Poseidon decided to cut in and explain his daughter's next domain. "As the goddess of the tides, you will be able to live in Atlantis if you want. You will maintain your connection to the seas. You won't have a particular job associated with this title, but if the sea is ever in danger, you will be expected to help defend it. Also, should Triton fade before I do, you will become the new heir to my throne."

"You will also be tied to my domain as I am the goddess of the moon and the moon is said to push and pull the tides," added Artemis.

Percy nodded in understanding.

"Your final domain is that of swordfighting," said Athena, taking over the explanations once more. "Ares, would you care to elaborate?"

Percy turned to look at the war god as he began speaking. "You will be expected to train with me and if Olympus is ever in danger, you'll be on the front lines. You can bless certain demigods to become more skilled with the sword, or you can curse them and take away any abilities they have with the sword. You will need to learn as many different forms of sword work as you can. The styles you don't learn may be lost and forgotten forever."

Ares had explained Percy's job without once insulting the goddess, causing several of his fellow Olympians looked at him in surprise. Ares glared at them, scaring away any questions they would have asked him about why he wasn't trying to downgrade the raven-haired goddess.

"I think I get it," said Percy hesitantly.

"Good," said Zeus. "Now, we need to decide on whether or not we want to combine Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood."

As the king of the gods made his announcement, all the gods broke out arguing, yelling to be heard over each other. Sometime in the middle of the argument, Ares looked over at Percy, wondering what side she was taking. He realized with some surprise that the goddess wasn't even speaking.

Zeus appeared to realize the same thing as well and asked Percy angrily, "Are you even paying attention, niece?"

Percy looked up at Zeus. "Yes, I am. I simply see no reason to take part in this needless fighting. We should just take a vote."

Athena's eyebrows shot up in respect and she nodded. "Percy is correct, father. We should simply lay out our options and vote."

The Olympians all fell silent as they heard Athena agreeing with a child of Poseidon.

"Very well, then. Let's take the vote," said Zeus. "All those in favor-"

Percy cut him off. "One moment. I would like to suggest that we also make it an option to vote for combining the two camps later, once the Greeks and Romans are used to each other."

Zeus nodded with a huff. "All those in favor of keeping the two camps completely separate."

Dionysus raised his hand. "I have no desire to deal with more of the brats," he sneered.

"That's one vote," said Zeus. "All those in favor for combining the camps right now."

Artemis, Hera, Aphrodite, Demeter and Zeus raised their hands.

"Five," announced Zeus. "Those in favor of combining the camps at some point in the future."

Apollo, Ares, Hermes, Athena, Percy, Poseidon, Hades and Hestia raised their hands.

"Eight," said Zeus. "Hephaestus, are you abstaining?"

The smith god nodded his head. "I'm not sure what would be best for the demigods as I am not very good at dealing with organic life forms.

"Athena, make a note of the fact that the camps will be combined in the future once they are used to each other," ordered Zeus.

Ares stared at Percy, amazed that she was able to bring order to the chaos that usually ensued at council meetings. When Percy felt his eyes on her, she looked back at him. As their eyes met, he smiled at her, and she smiled back.

**A/N:**I'd realized that I hadn't really explained what Percy's domains and powers involved so I decided to take a chapter out for that. What do you think? Are there any powers that you think I should include that I've missed? If so, please review or PM me and I will fit them into the next few chapters. Anyways, next chapter will include Sally! Please review and let me know what you thought.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will also be especially appreciated. Thank you to everyone that has reviewed my story so far. On a side note, I received a review asking if Percy is supposed to be a girl. The answer is yes. I have also PMed the reviewer and explained in more detail. Halliwell2002007, to answer your question, yes Percy still has her powers from when she was a demigod. However, I don't recall reading anywhere that Percy had any major power as an earthshaker, so for the purposes of this story, she can't cause earthquakes. She's not a minor goddess. She's a major goddess - her domains just happen to coincide with some of Poseidon's. They're sharing the domain - sort of like Artemis and Apollo both have hunting as one of their domains. If anybody has questions, please PM me. If you are a guest, and can't PM, send a review and I'll answer your question in the next chapter. Anyways, here's the second chapter of the week.

**Chapter 11**

**Percy POV**

As the four hour meeting ended, the Olympians stood and walked around, talking to each other.

Percy walked over to her father who embraced her. "I'm so glad you accepted immortality!" he exclaimed.

"I am too. I'll be sad to see my friends die, but now I can be surrounded by my family and friends forever, helping them in whatever way I can," agreed Percy.

Poseidon laughed. "There's that fatal flaw of yours acting up again! Instead of thinking about how to enjoy your immortality, you're already thinking about helping others."

Percy smiled. "I can't help it."

Poseidon laughed, but then his face darkened. "Percy... who did you kill?"

Percy hesitated and looked away, not wanting to tell her father that she had been abused.

Poseidon grabbed her chin and forced his daughter to look up at him. "You can tell me anything. You know that, right?"

Looking into her father's sea-green eyes, Percy felt her doubts melt away. She nodded. "I'll tell you later, in private."

"Okay." Poseidon was still looking at her with concern, but Percy could sense that his tension had eased.

"Percy!" called a warm voice.

The raven-haired goddess turned in the direction the voice had come from. She found an eight-year old goddess approaching her. "Aunt Hestia!"

The fire-eyed goddess pulled her niece into a hug. "Thank you for getting me a position on the council."

"It was my pleasure. Besides, you deserved it," said Percy, shrugging. "After everything you've done for Olympus - from giving up your position to Dionysus to keeping Pandora's pithos safe - nobody could deny your rights to a throne."

Hestia smiled up at Percy, before moving on to speak to Poseidon.

From across the room, Hades caught Percy's eye and nodded his appreciation for getting him onto the council as well. Percy smiled at the god of the dead.

As Percy moved towards Hades, a goddess intercepted her. "Persephone."

"Lady Athena," said Percy bowing, still nervous around the gray-eyed goddess that harbored a grudge against Poseidon and his offspring.

Athena waved her hand dismissively. "There is no need to bow to me or call me 'Lady'. We are equals now."

"Then, please, call me Percy," countered the other goddess.

Athena nodded, smiling. "I wanted to tell you that I support your relationship with my son. You have my blessings."

The smile on Percy's froze for a moment before dropping off abruptly. "Athena, we're no longer together."

"What!?" screeched the goddess in surprise. "How did you break up?"

The other Olympians quieted and turned at the uncharacteristically loud noise that Athena had emitted. Percy hesitated to reply when she realized that the other gods were watching the conversation intently.

"Well?" prodded the goddess of wisdom.

"Anthony started cheating on me after we escaped Tartarus. I confronted him yesterday and we broke up," explained Percy as briefly as she could. She bit her lip as the pain she felt at the thought of the boy she had fallen into Tartarus for cheating on her stirred in her chest.

"That boy!" exclaimed Athena angrily, pacing in front of Percy. "And he claims to be wise! Why he would give up the love and affection of the Hero of Olympus is beyond me."

"With whom did he cheat on you?" questioned Zeus, sparks flying off of him.

"Lavinia," answered Percy hesitantly. She didn't know why Zeus sounded so protective of her. After all, she was a child of Poseidon.

"I see. I'll have a talk with those two," said Zeus.

She had the feeling that Zeus had referred to would be a more physical than verbal. "Uncle, it's fine. I've made my peace with Lavinia and she is happy with Anthony. I don't want to ruin it for her. Besides," she added under her breath. "I doubt our relationship would have lasted much longer anyways."

Percy had thought nobody had heard her and was surprised when Ares, who had come to stand next to her while she explained her break up, looked at her in confusion.

"Very well," grumbled Zeus. "I will not speak to the two."

Percy smiled at the king of the gods in gratitude.

The Olympians slowly began to speak again, a few, especially Poseidon, occasionally glancing at Percy in concern. Percy walked over to a corner of the throne room, not wanting to talk to any of the gods about the break up. She leaned against a wall, not really surprised to find that Ares had followed her.

"Why was Zeus acting so protective?" she asked.

Ares leaned against the wall next to her. He looked at her in surprised. "You can't tell? He cares about you. You've defeated two of his major enemies and have never looked for recognition. Sure, you've requested rewards, but it seems to me that he wanted to do the things you asked for anyways. He was just too proud to do them unless he was obligated to. My guess is that he's grateful that everything you requested has been something beneficial."

Percy tilted her head and studied the war god next to her. He seemed the same as ever - tall, messy black hair, raging fires for eyes, scars marring his tan skin - but he acted like a different person from the one she had come to expect over the past six years. "You aren't what everybody makes you out to be," said the goddess, a wry smile dancing on her lips.

"Oh?"

"I used to think that you were all brawn and no brains. I thought you craved power," started Percy, only to be cut off by Ares' harsh laughter.

"I can see why you'd think that," he said. "After all, I did try to get the lightning bolt to Kronos. I didn't want to, though. I... I didn't really know what I was doing. It felt like I was in a dream." He closed his eyes. "Anyways, go on. Who do you think I am now?"

"I'm not sure," answered Percy truthfully. "I think that you are smarter than you let on. You also feel more than just rage - it's just easier to pretend that you don't have other emotions. I think that you try to be what others expect you to be because it's easier."

Ares had opened his eyes and was looking at the goddess intently. "Something tells me that you're the same," he murmured.

Percy raised her eyebrow, curious what Ares thought.

The fires in the war god's eyes softened as he spoke again. "That son of Athena, he calls you a Seaweed Brain. No doubt he calls you that because he thinks that you aren't very smart and don't notice much. He thinks that you are more of a person that jokes around all the time. He doesn't think you're ever really serious. But he doesn't know that it's a cover. He doesn't know that you pretend to be someone you're not in order to hide from your past, from the abuse. In fact, I'm guessing that you said your relationship with him wouldn't have lasted much longer because he doesn't really know you."

Percy nodded and motioned for Ares to continue.

"Being the child of one of the Big Three and then being a part of two Great Prophecies meant that everyone expected you to be strong, even when you came back from Tartarus. Even when you wanted to rely on someone, you had to be strong and independent because everyone looked up to you and if you showed any weakness, people would lose hope. You never seem to get hurt when someone insults you, but I think that you've been hurt so often by words that you have learned to hide how you feel and pretend that you're perfectly fine," finished Ares softly.

"How did you know?" asked Percy, furiously brushing away the tear that had started making it's way down her cheek.

"I'm the god of war. It's my job to be able to read those around me, whether they are my friend or enemy," answered Ares.

"And what am I? Friend or enemy? Or am I neither - just someone that happens to be on the side of the gods?" asked Percy, looking him in the eye.

Ares hesitated. "A friend, if you want the same."

Percy smiled at the idea of having a friend who knew her well enough that she didn't have to pretend to be someone she wasn't. "I want the same," she said, watching the war god's face break into a small smile.

**A/N: **What do you guys think? Should I have handled the big reveal of the break up differently? If you want any of the gods to react with more volatility, let me know and I'll add in scenes where they approach Percy separately. Anyways, Ares and Percy are officially friends now! If any of you have specific ways you want their relationship to progress, let me know. I'd love some ideas - I've got a basic storyline, but I didn't really plan any scenes out ahead of time, and right now I just write whatever comes to mind. I'd much rather write an already solidified idea. Anyways, please review. Next chapter might come out this week, but don't count on it. I will definitely stick with the two chapter a week, though.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will be especially appreciated. My sincerest gratitude to everyone that has reviewed my story so far. I've got more than a hundred follows! I'd love to get to a hundred reviews as well within the next couple of chapters. Anyways, here's the first chapter of the week.

**Chapter 12**

**Percy POV**

As Percy spoke with Ares, Artemis approached her, glaring at the war god through narrowed silver eyes. "May I speak to you for a moment, Persephone?"

"Of course," replied Percy, looking at Ares apologetically. "And call me Percy, not Persephone."

"I'll just go talk to Hephaestus about a new sword," said Ares, stepping away awkwardly.

"You seem to be close to my half-brother," stated Artemis with no preamble as soon as the war god was out of earshot.

"You mean Ares? I guess so. I mean, we're friends," said Percy, a little confused about why Artemis was asking.

The maiden goddess seemed relieved. "I was wondering if you wanted to join the Hunt."

Percy's eyes widened in surprise. "I don't know… Anthony may have betrayed me, but I _do_ still have male friends. I don't want to leave them behind." Percy shook her head.

"Are you sure?" pressed Artemis. "You'd make a wonderful addition to our ranks."

Percy hesitated. She had to admit that after what Gabe had done to her, she wasn't sure that she could ever really trust males. Even when Zeus had been questioning her a the the start of the council meeting, it had taken all she had to refrain from flinching. Maybe she should keep her options open in case she ever decided that she couldn't handle the stress of being surrounded by males all the time.

Percy looked at Artemis. "I might change my mind in the future, but right now, it doesn't seem like being a hunter is the right thing for me. Besides, I can't even shoot an arrow!"

Artemis looked a little upset, but she nodded in acceptance. "You're welcome to join us for our hunts whenever you like. And I'm sure that Thalia would love to teach you archery and how to wield dual hunting knives."

Percy smiled. "That sounds like fun. Thank you."

Artemis smiled back. "On a side note, do you think Lavinia would let me teach that boyfriend of hers how to respect women?"

Percy smirked. "I think that she might even help you."

"In that case, I'll invite you to watch," said Artemis.

"I think I'd really enjoy that!" exclaimed Percy, feeling guilty pleasure at the thought of watching the goddess of hunting beat her ex-boyfriend up.

Apollo suddenly appeared beside Artemis. "Hey, Percy."

"Apollo," Percy returned the greeting.

Artemis waved goodbye and left to find some other Olympian to speak to.

"How do you like being a god?" asked the archer god.

"It feels normal, I guess. I mean, I feel more powerful, but other than that, I still feel like regular demigod... Well, I don't feel hunted every second of the day anymore, which is a plus," said Percy thoughtfully.

"That is definitely a plus," agreed Apollo. "Anyways, how do you feel? Are you dizzy at all?"

Percy had pushed back all feelings of discomfort and ignored them the day before, when she had woken up. Now, she allowed them to flood back. "I'm a little dizzy. I feel a bit nauseous, but that's probably because I haven't eaten since morning. I'm also a little sore, but that's to be expected after fighting Gaea," reported the goddess.

"Hold up." Apollo raised his hand. "You haven't eaten yet?"

Percy shook her head, embarrassed.

Apollo flashed away and then flashed back a few seconds later. He held a plate of ambrosia and a glass of nectar. He offered them to Percy. "Here. Eat this."

Percy eyed the godly food and drink suspiciously. "I won't combust, or something, will I?"

Apollo raised his eyebrows in amusement. "No. You're immortal. It can't harm you."

"But it'll still heal me when I get injured?" questioned the raven-haired goddess.

"Yes," replied Apollo. "However, it won't be as effective as it was before."

Percy groaned. "That's terrible. Considering my luck, I'm going to get injured pretty often."

"Your luck can't be that bad," disagreed the sun god.

"It actually can. Think about it - I've been a part of two great prophecies and have had to face titans, giants, and even a primordial in battle. Additionally, I've been part of several quests. My memory was temporarily stolen. And the guy I fell into Tartarus for cheated on me. I think that qualifies as bad luck," summed up Percy. "And those are just the major events."

"When you put it that way, you definitely have some of the worst luck in the world," conceded Apollo with a grimace.

Percy suddenly realized that Apollo was still holding the ambrosia and nectar out to her and accepted it with a sheepish smile. As she ate, Apollo entertained her with stories of pranks he had pulled with Hermes.

As she finished eating, Hermes came up to the laughing duo. "Hey, guys. Apollo, I need your help with stealing something."

Percy and Apollo bid each other goodbye and Percy was left holding a plate and glass. A pair of wind nymphs suddenly came up to her and blew the utensils away. Percy nodded to the aurae in gratitude as they flew away on breeze, taking the utensils with them.

Dionysus sidled up to Percy as she gazed after the aurae. "Hello, Persephone."

Percy looked at the wine god in surprise. "You got my name right!"

"Yes. Since you've been turned into a goddess, a powerful one at that, I thought I should make an effort to remember it."

Percy, unnerved by how intently Dionysus was looking at her, took a step back. "Should I continue to call you Mr. D, or should I call you Dionysus?"

"Why don't you call me Dionysus," whispered Dionysus. He closed the distance between them again and placed a hand on her arm.

Percy shrugged the god's hand off. It was clear that the wine god was flirting with her. She most definitely didn't want to go out with him - especially since his breath always smelled like wine and alcohol. Not to mention, she didn't want to get her heart broken. "Don't you have a wife?" she asked, pointedly.

Dionysus looked taken aback. "Well, yes. But that doesn't mean that I can't maintain a relationship with you at the same time."

"I'm sure you can find a much more suitable goddess to go out with," suggested Percy.

"I don't see why I would need to. You're one of the most beautiful goddesses around." Dionysus replaced his hand on Percy's arm.

Involuntarily, Percy blushed at the praise. She forced the blush to subside. "Aphrodite's prettier," argued the goddess. She glanced around, hoping to catch her father's eye. She knew that Poseidon was very protective of her, and would probably drive Dionysus off. Unfortunately, Poseidon was engrossed in a conversation with his brothers and wasn't looking her way.

"I disagree," said Dionysus, leaning in close.

Just as Percy was about to resort to slapping Dionysus to get away from him, Ares appeared at her side.

"Take a hint, Dionysus. Jackson's not interested," he growled.

Percy looked up at Ares in gratitude.

Ares gave the goddess a small smile, before glaring at Dionysus.

"Who made you the expert about what Persephone wants and doesn't want?" snarled Dionysus.

"I'm not," replied Ares. "But anyone with eyes can see that Jackson isn't interested in a relationship with you. She's just too nice to say it outright."

"That's not true," denied the wine god.

"Actually," interrupted Percy, biting her lip. The two gods turned towards her. "It's true. I'm not interested."

Dionysus growled. "I'll get you to fall for me, somehow." He flashed out without another word.

"Thanks," said Percy, glancing up at Ares.

"It was my pleasure," replied the war god, smirking. His expression morphed into one of worry. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine - thanks to you," said Percy smiling at the war god.

**A/N: **What do you guys think? I'm considering using Dionysus a lot more in this story. I don't really want to make this a story where Percy and Ares fall in love with nobody trying to come in between them. Do you think I should use Dionysus? Do you have anybody else in mind? Please review and let me know. I know a lot of you guys wanted me to update again last week, but I really didn't have the time. The only reason I got this out today is because I wrote it during a three hour car ride. Anyways, thanks for all the encouragement I've received. Next chapter will have to do with Poseidon and Atlantis - more Percy POV. And don't forget to review!


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will be especially appreciated. My thanks to everyone that has reviewed my story so far. I've got more than a hundred favorites as well as follows! I'd love to get to a hundred reviews, as well, within the next two chapters. Anyways, as promised, here's the second chapter of the week.

**Chapter 13**

**Percy POV**

As Percy finished thanking Ares for helping her deal with Dionysus, her father came up to her.

Poseidon growled at Ares. "Is Ares bothering you, Percy?"

"No, father," Percy said, rolling her eyes at his over protectiveness.

"Stay away from my daughter, Ares," ordered Poseidon, ignoring Percy's reply.

Ares raised his eyebrows in a mix of amusement and anger. "According to the council - which includes you - I'm supposed to stay close to her for the next two weeks."

"Oh, right." Poseidon looked a bit sheepish for a moment, but then his expression became hard again. "Whatever the case, I expect you to keep her safe. Understood?"

Ares looked like he was barely restraining a smile. "Of course."

Poseidon seemed taken aback that Ares wasn't putting up a fight - after all, he _was_ the god of war.

Percy decided to interrupt their conversation, before her father could say something insulting. "Dad, was there something you wanted me for, or did you just come here to harass Ares?"

Poseidon's green eyes brightened as he turned to look at his daughter. "I want you to come with me to Atlantis for the rest of day. The merpeople and other inhabitants of the sea need to meet their princess and I need to explain your powers over the tides to you in more detail."

Percy bit her lip nervously. "Won't Amphitrite and Triton be upset?"

Poseidon shrugged carelessly. "They'll need to get used to having you around. Atlantis is just as much your home as it is theirs. You are my daughter, and I will not let them keep you from living with me," he growled.

Percy grinned. "That means a lot," she said.

Poseidon pulled his surprised daughter into a hug. The raven-haired goddess stiffened for a moment, before reminding herself that this wasn't Gabe, putting up a show of pretending to love Percy in front of Sally.

"We'll leave now, if that's okay, Percy," said the sea god letting go of Percy.

"That sounds great," agreed Percy. She turned to Ares. "I'll see you later."

Ares nodded. "You might want to tell your mother about what happened before she gets worried."

Percy's eyes widened. She had almost forgotten - her mother would be confused if Gabe wasn't there when she got home. "Thanks for the reminder." The petite goddess smiled up at Ares. "I'll make sure to visit mom tonight."

Poseidon grabbed Percy's shoulder gently. "Let's go."

Percy closed her eyes and Poseidon flashed the two of them out. A moment later, Percy felt water around her and opened her eyes. She took a deep breath, enjoying the soothing feeling of pure water filling her lungs. The petite goddess studied the scene in front of her in awe. Golden domed buildings made of white limestone were sprawled out in front her, sparkling in the light of glowing seaweed. Their architecture drew from the best of the Greek and Roman cultures. From the center of the city, a palace rose up. It was like nothing Percy had ever seen before. The palace was made of blue and green limestone. Ivy-like seaweed and coral crawled up the sides of the palace. The roof was a dome. It had a base color of gold, but blue and green swirled in the gold. Sapphires and emeralds sparkled on the palace, reflecting the light of the glowing seaweed.

"What do you think?" asked Poseidon, smirking proudly as he took in his daughter's awestruck expression.

"It's amazing," breathed Percy.

"I'm glad you think so," said the sea god. "Come on. I'll take you through the city."

As the father and daughter took off swimming slowly through the city Percy suddenly realized that where the king of the sea had once had two legs, he now possessed a large seaweed-green, scaled tail. Merpeople and other creatures stopped as the royal pair passed and paid their respect. Percy looked around in awe, taking in the beauty of Atlantis close up. The two approached the palace and were let in through the gates by bowing guards.

"Come on, Percy," said Poseidon, when he realized that his daughter had stopped swimming. "I'll take you to the throne room. Amphitrite and Triton have been awaiting our arrival."

Percy nodded nervously.

Poseidon began swimming again, using his tail to propel him much faster than Percy could swim. "Let's see if you can keep up!" Poseidon called over his shoulder, chuckling.

Percy willed the water to push her forward as fast as possible and she was soon whizzing alongside her laughing father down the halls of the palace. As they reached a set of huge doors made of imperial gold, Poseidon slowed to a stop and motioned for Percy to do the same.

Percy looked at the doors nervously, knowing that her step-family would be waiting for her on the other side.

Poseidon looked at her. "Don't worry, Percy. You'll be fine."

"You're right, dad." Percy took a deep breath. "I'm ready."

"Guards!" called the king of the seas. "Open the doors!"

"Yes, your majesty!" came the quick reply of the six mermen in armor that were standing in front of the doors.

A few guards positioned themselves at either sides of the doors and grabbed ahold of a crank made of celestial bronze set into the wall. As the guards grabbed onto the cranks that were on either sides of the doors, one of them called out, "Pull!"

The mermen began to turn the cranks in unison. A moment later the doors were open and Percy was left standing with nothing between her and the step-family that hated her.

**A/N: **I know that was short, but it's been a few days since I last updated and I assumed that you'd rather have a few of short chapters than a single long chapter that takes a while to come out. I tried to use some description in this chapter as suggested in one of my reviews. What did you guys think of my attempt? Anyways, I need some help with the next chapter. Should Triton and Amphitrite warm up to her? Should they try to injure her? Please review and let me know.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will be especially appreciated. I've got over a hundred reviews and I didn't even post the second chapter! You guys are awesome. Maybe we can get to 115 reviews this time? I'm super sorry that it's been a week since the last update. Hopefully, this will help make up. Since you've all been waiting, here's the first chapter of the week.

**Chapter 14**

**Percy POV**

As the giant doors opened, Percy glanced around the throne room. The walls were made of white limestone and were studded with aquamarine, emerald and sapphire. The floor was made of the same white limestone, but streaks of gold ran through it. There were several small plain light blue marble thrones around the room. Percy assumed they were for advisors. The goddess' gaze was then caught by four magnificent thrones in the center of the throne room. The middle two were the largest. Both were made of sea-green marble streaked with gold. They had water constantly running down them, like miniature waterfalls. The two, slightly smaller ones, next to them were similar, but the marble was a midnight blue streaked with gold instead. Seated on one of the center thrones and the midnight blue throne just behind it, were Amphitrite and Triton. Both glared at Percy and she averted her eyes.

Poseidon grabbed Percy's hand and pulled her towards the imposing figures of his wife and son. The mother and son rose in greeting as their king approached.

"Amphitrite," said Poseidon, pulling her in for a hug.

The queen's face softened for a moment, but quickly regained its hardness as she continued to glare at her step-daughter.

"Father," said Triton, as the king stepped back to stand next to his daughter. "Why is _she_ here?" He jerked his head towards Percy.

"You didn't tell them I was coming?" Percy asked, surprised.

Poseidon rubbed the back of his neck. "I thought it would be better this way." He turned his gaze from his daughter to the rest of his family. "Percy will be staying here for the rest of the day. She can drop by whenever she likes and even live here. In fact, that second throne is for her." The sea king pointed towards the midnight blue throne that was identical to Triton's. "I expect both of you to be welcoming. Also, she is second in line for the throne, and I expect her to be treated as such. Understood?"

Amphitrite and Triton both nodded, but continued to glare at the daughter of Poseidon.

"I'll leave you three to... get to know each other, then," said Poseidon, searching for the right words to use. "I need to speak to Delphin about our army."

Percy growled as her father flashed out, leaving her alone with two gods that more or less, wanted her dead.

"Triton, I need to speak to you for a moment," said Amphitrite.

Percy caught the unspoken words in the glare directed towards her, and swam out of earshot. The two sea gods spoke quietly for a couple of minutes occasionally glancing over at Percy. Then, Amphitrite flashed out and Triton swam over to Percy.

The raven-haired goddess steeled herself for an argument, but was pleasantly surprised when Triton just motioned for her to follow him. "Mother said that I am to give you a tour of the palace," said the sea prince in even tones.

Percy swam after her half-brother as he led her through the palace, pointing out different rooms. They stopped just before a set of stairs. "The higher floors are the bedrooms. I'll show you yours. Follow me."

Percy nodded and started swimming. About half way up the flight of stairs, she turned to her half-brother. "Why are there stairs, if everybody just swims?"

"It's for when the other gods visit," replied the twin-tailed merman cryptically.

The petite goddess' brow furrowed in confusion.

"Here, I'll show you," said Triton, his eyes glittering in malice as he turned towards Percy.

Without waiting for a response, Triton stretched out his arms towards his surroundings. He pushed the water away, creating a large air bubble around Percy, while still being surrounded by water, himself.

As the green-eyed goddess had been swimming a few feet above the stairs, she fell towards the floor. Shocked, Percy tried to find a grip on the stairs, but was too unbalanced and fell painfully down the steps, limbs flailing as she tried to grab hold of a railing. She came to a stop at the bottom, groaning.

Triton let the water rush back in, causing Percy to feel immediate relief. The green-skinned merman swam down to the goddess and smirked at her. "Maybe now you won't bother coming back to Atlantis," he said. "And don't you dare tell father about this." He flashed away.

Glaring after him, Percy took stock of her injuries, which were slowly being healed by the water surrounding her. A couple of her ribs seemed to be broken, her right ankle was sprained, and her left arm was fractured. Gritting her teeth, Percy forced herself to sit up. Closing her eyes, the goddess forced the water to heal her faster.

_'I can't believe Triton actually hurt me. I knew he hated me, but I never thought he'd stoop this low,' _she thought as she focused on the water.

Several minutes later, Percy released her hold on the water. She forced herself to her feet and took a few experimental steps. She seemed to have healed quite a bit, but her body still protested in pain every time she moved.

Closing her eyes, Percy gathered her power and flashed to the throne room in hopes of finding her father. As she opened her eyes again, she found her father was arguing with Triton and Amphitrite.

Poseidon turned to face his daughter. "Percy! I was just yelling at Triton for abandoning you," he said. "Are you okay?"

The sea king clearly didn't know that his son had manipulated the water to force his daughter to fall down a flight of stairs.

Percy opened her mouth to tell him what had happened, when Triton and Amphitrite turned threatening glares on her. The raven haired Olympian was thrown into memories of Gabe glaring at her the same way, warning her to not tell her mother that he had been abusing her. Percy flinched and automatically said, "Yeah, dad. I'm fine."

Triton and Amphitrite's eyes widened in surprise, while Poseidon sighed with relief. "I can finish explaining your powers to you now," he said, approaching his daughter.

Percy panicked a little - if she stayed, her father would find out that she was injured. "Actually, dad," said Percy. "I need to get going. I want to visit mom and explain a few things to her tonight. Maybe some other time?"

The sea god frowned, but nodded. "I'll see you soon, then."

"Yes. Bye." Percy ignored Amphitrite and Triton and immediately closed her eyes, willing herself into her temporary room on Olympus.

**A/N:** I liked the idea of Amphitrite and Triton injuring Percy, and then, eventually warming up to her. I'm also toying with the idea of revealing her abuse to them. What do you guys think? Please review and let me know. Give me other ideas, as well. I'm drawing a blank right now. Anyways, what did you think of this chapter. I'm not sure I did a good job portraying Percy's injury and how much it hurt. If any of you guys have an idea on how to improve this chapter, please review or PM me, and I will update this chapter. Next chapter will be out soon. And, since I haven't done any recently, it'll be from Ares POV. Please review.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will be especially appreciated. Maybe we can get to 120 reviews this time? I felt bad because I made you guys wait for so long for the last chapter, so I decided to write this one up quickly. Here's the second chapter of the week, and as promised it's from Ares POV.

**Chapter 15**

**Ares POV**

Ares paced Percy's room, awaiting the goddess' arrival. If Percy wanted to meet her mother, she would need to get back soon and he was hoping that she would take him along. The war god wanted to know what type of person Percy would sacrifice her happiness for.

There was a sudden bright flash of light to his left, alerting him that Percy had arrived. He turned to face her. "Percy-" he broke off, darting forward to steady the goddess as she stumbled forward.

Percy leaned against Ares for a moment, before straightening with a grimace. "Thanks, Ares."

The war god looked at her concerned. "Are you okay?"

The goddess of heroes waved her hand dismissively. "I'll be fine. I just need some nectar or ambrosia."

"That doesn't reassure me," said Ares pointedly, pulling some ambrosia out one of the many pocket on his leather jacket. "What happened?"

"Nothing," said Percy looking away as she took the ambrosia.

"Jackson," ordered Ares sternly. "Tell me what happened."

Suddenly, Percy broke. "I can't do it anymore," she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Can't do what anymore?" asked Ares, more gently.

"Everything reminds me of _him, _Ares. Of what he did to me," sobbed Percy.

Ares bit his lip, unsure of how to help the goddess. "It'll get better eventually," he soothed. "Now tell me what happened."

Percy dried her tears and took a deep breath, leaning against Ares once more as he led her to the bed and sat down with her. "Dad had some business to attend to with Delphin, so he left me with Amphitrite and Triton. Amphitrite left pretty quickly, and Triton took me on a tour of the palace. We were swimming up some stairs to get to the second floor, when Triton created a huge air bubble around me..."

"And you fell?" prodded Ares gently.

Percy nodded mutely.

"And that reminded you of your time with your step-father?" asked Ares, ignoring his instinct to go straight to Atlantis and beat Triton up.

Percy frowned. "Sort of. It was more the way Triton and Amphitrite looked at me when I was about to tell dad what they did... It was the same way Gabe would look at me whenever mom came home. That was how he'd warn me not to tell mom anything."

Ares growled in his throat.

Percy looked up at Ares. "I'm fine, though. Really."

Ares ignored what she just said. "Where did you get hurt?"

"I broke a couple of ribs, sprained my ankle and broke my arm. The water healed me for the most part, though. And the ambrosia is helping, too. A couple of days, and I'll be as good as new." Percy's smile was obviously forced.

The goddess moved to get up, but Ares forced her to sit back down. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To talk to my mom. Remember?" replied Percy.

The black-haired war god shook his head. "I don't think so. You're still hurt. You're going to stay right here, in bed."

"What?!" protested Percy. "I'm completely capable of talking to my mom. Besides, if I don't tell her what happened, she's going to get worried. She doesn't even know that I'm still alive or that Gaea has been defeated!"

Ares studied Percy for a moment before sighing. "I'll tell her."

Percy froze. "Really?"

"Yeah." Ares nodded.

"Thank you," murmured Percy, giving Ares a quick hug.

Ares was surprised by the hug, but returned the gesture. He shook off his shock. "However, I don't trust you to not go out and strain yourself even though you're still injured."

Percy gave a half-smirk. "What are you going to do about it? It's not like you can be in two places at once."

"No, but I _can_ get Aphrodite to watch you for me." Ares returned the smirk, glad he was getting Percy's mind off of what happened in Atlantis.

Percy's smirk grew and she laughed. "That's right. Run to your girlfriend for help when you can't handle the job yourself," teased the raven-haired goddess.

The smirk on Ares' face turned into a nervous smile. "Actually, we aren't together anymore," he confessed.

Percy gasped. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I-"

Ares cut her off. "It's totally fine. It was about time. She's known that I haven't been into her for the past few millennia. We just pretended to be together because Aphrodite's the goddess of love, and it always has to look like she's in love. As she would say - appearances matter a lot."

Percy studied Ares' face for a moment and seemed to decide that the war god truly didn't care that he was no longer with the goddess of beauty. "Why did she break up with you, then?"

"During the war with Gaea, Hephaestus was gravely injured while fighting Mimas. For a couple of minutes, we weren't sure whether he would fade or not. Aphrodite realized that she cared a lot for husband, and when he recovered, she decided to give their relationship another go." Ares shrugged.

Percy nodded in understanding, then glanced at a clock on the wall. She nudged the war god. "You should get going if you're going to get Aphrodite to watch me and still get to mom, before she freaks out."

Ares nodded and stood up. "See you later, then. I'll let you know how your mom's doing when I get back."

"Bye," said Percy.

Ares closed his eyes and pictured the front door of Aphrodite's palace and imagined that he was there.

**A/N: **What do you guys think? I didn't realize this conversation would be quite so long. I thought I'd be able to at least cover the conversation with Aphrodite. Anyways, next chapter is Ares POV as well, because I don't think I've done enough of those chapters. How should Sally take the news of Gabe's death and Percy's ascension to godhood? Should Ares tell her about the abuse? Let me know what you guys think. Please review.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will be especially appreciated. Maybe we can get to 130 reviews this time? This chapter's a bit longer than some of the others, but it might be a little more boring - there's no Percy involved, whatsoever. Here's the first chapter of the week, and as promised it's from Ares POV.

**Chapter 16**

**Ares POV**

Ares knocked on the golden door of Aphrodite's palace.

"Coming!" she called just before opening the door. The goddess of love was wearing a pair of hot pink skinny jeans and a gold and white flowy top. "Ares! What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you could watch Percy for me," said Ares.

"What happened?" asked Aphrodite, instead of answering Ares' question.

Ares hesitated for a moment, but then explained what happened in Atlantis.

By the end of his explanation, the goddess of love was enraged. "How dare that - that _thing_ hurt Percy. I suggest you go down to Atlantis and make him wish he'd never been born! Oh, and yes, I'll watch Percy for you."

"Why are you so protective of Jackson?" queried Ares.

Aphrodite's face fell. "I feel somewhat responsible for her breakup with Anthony. I'm the goddess of _love_, for Zeus' sake. I should've been able to keep the boy from going astray."

Ares froze, surprised. Yes, he had seen Aphrodite's insecurities over the years, but he'd never heard her blame herself for something. Even during the Trojan War, she simply focused on the love story of Paris and Helen. She hadn't even considered the idea that she was the cause of one the bloodiest wars ever.

"I'm sure Percy doesn't blame you," Ares tried to reassure the goddess in front of him.

"You really think so?" asked Aphrodite hopefully.

"Yes," Ares confirmed. "Anyways, can you get to Jackson as soon as possible? I need to speak her mother."

"Of course," said Aphrodite.

Ares closed his eyes to flash away, when the goddess of doves stopped him. "Ares?"

"Yeah?"

"It's nice to see that the war god has a soft side," she said softly.

Unsure of how to reply, Ares flashed away quickly. The black-haired god reappeared in front of a wooden door. He hesitated for a moment, remembering what he had found behind the door the last time he had opened it. Shaking off the memories, he knocked on the door.

There were hurried footsteps and then the door opened to reveal a middle-aged woman with blue eyes and brown hair with strands of gray. "May I help you?" asked the woman.

"Are you Sally Jackson?" Ares removed his glasses, showing his flaming eyes.

"Yes." The woman's eyes widened in realization. "You must be here about Percy! Please, come in." She led Ares inside. Sally gestured towards the sofa. "Have a seat Lord..."

"Ares," filled in the war god, sitting down.

"Would you like something to eat or drink, Lord Ares?" asked Sally nervously.

Ares smiled, a little amused by the woman's frantic gestures. "There's no need. Sit down. I need to talk to you about Percy and your husband."

Sally followed his orders. "Is my daughter alright?"

"How about I tell you the story from the beginning? Do you know anything about what happened after Percy went missing?" asked Ares, ignoring the question.

"Percy called and told me that she was on a quest and that Hera had taken her memories and placed her with Roman demigods," replied Sally.

"Okay. I'll start from there, then. Percy succeeded in her quest. When she got back to Camp jupiter, she fought and defeated Polybotes, her father's Bane. After that, she was raised to the rank of praetor by the Romans. Later, the Argo II, a battleship that can fly, picked her and two other Romans up to fulfill the Prophecy of Seven," explained Ares. "Do you know the prophecy?"

"Yes, milord," confirmed the mortal. "Who were the Seven?"

"There were Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite, Lavinia Valdez, daughter of Hephaestus, Anthony Chase, son of Athena, Percy, Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto, and Frank, son of Mars," recalled Ares.

"Thank gods Anthony was part of the prophecy. He was going crazy searching for Percy," said Sally with a fond sigh.

Ares swallowed a little uncomfortably, unsure of whether he should break the news to Sally that Anthony had cheated on Percy. He decided against it and continued with the tale, "The Seven went to Rome. They split up there. Anthony followed the Mark of Athena and found the Athena Parthenos in the lair of Arachne. Meanwhile, the others rescued Nico and defeated Otus and Ephialtes, the twin Banes of Dionysus. When they went to retrieve Anthony and the Athena Parthenos from Arachne's lair, a series of events led to Anthony being pulled into Tartarus and Percy jumping in after him."

The blue-eyed mortal gasped, paling drastically. "My poor little girl... What happened to them down there?"

Ares looked down, somewhat ashamed that he had never asked Percy. "Nobody really knows. The rest of the Seven tried to question the two when they closed the Doors of Death in Epirus, but Anthony and Percy refused to answer. After that, the Seven sailed to Athens, where, with the help of the gods, they defeated the giants and Gaea. In fact, Percy landed the killing blow on Gaea. You should be proud of her, Sally," finished the war god softly.

"Oh, I am so proud of her," replied the woman. "More than she could ever imagine." Sally studied Ares carefully and narrowed her eyes. "You're hiding something," she accused.

Ares sighed hesitantly, but nodded. "Anthony cheated on Percy with Lavinia after they were rescued from Tartarus."

"That boy," Sally growled. "I can't believe he would cheat on her after she fell into Tartarus for him," Sally said angrily, eyes narrowed.

"It is difficult to believe," agreed the war god.

"How's Percy taking it?"

"She doesn't seem particularly distressed," related Ares.

Sally blinked in confusion, then shrugged. "Good. Why isn't my daughter her?"

After the war, the Seven were made gods and Percy became an Olympian," said ares

Sally smiled. "I'm glad. She deserves immortality. However, that still doesn't explain why she isn't here. Also, what are her domains?"

Ares decided to answer the second question first. "Percy's the goddess of heroes, swordsmanship and the tides. She's not here because she had an... accident. She fell down some stairs and injured herself. I refused to let her out of bed until she healed completely."

"Thank you for taking care of her," said the brown-haired mortal gratefully. "Let Percy know that I'm proud of her and that I love her. Tell her to come to visit me soon."

"Of course," said the war god.

"You said you came to talk about Gabe, as well," reminded the woman.

"Ah, yes... I'm not sure how to put this, but Percy... killed him," said an uncertain Ares.

"Wh-Why would she do that?" asked Sally surprised, eyes wide. She didn't seem upset to learn about her husband's death.

Knowing that he couldn't tell this woman that her daughter was abused, the war god decided to lie and give a reason that sounded like something Percy would say. "She thought there was no reason for you to remain married to him. She also said, that, on occasion he had threatened to hit you and she couldn't allow that to happen."

Sally smiled. "I'm glad she cares enough about me to kill that man."

"You're not upset?" asked Ares cautiously.

"That Gabe's dead? No. That Percy killed a mortal? Yes, but I know she only did what she thought necessary," explained the woman.

Ares nodded in understanding. "I should get going."

"Thank you for taking the time out to tell me all of this, Lord Ares." Sally stood up.

Ares followed suit. "It was the only way to get Percy to rest." THe war god smirked. "Close your eyes."

Sally did as told and the war god flashed away.

**A/N:** What do you guys think? I decided that telling Sally about the abuse would be detrimental to the path I want the story to take. I want very few people to find out about the abuse. Also, if Sally found out, I would have to involve her a lot more in the story, and that is not my intention. Next chapter is also Ares POV. I'm sort of making up for the fact that I've done very few from his POV so far. I'm considering revealing the abuse to Amphitrite and Triton. Do you think I should? And if I do, how should they react? Please review and let me know.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will be especially appreciated. Maybe I can get to 155 reviews this time? Thanks for all the ideas. I'm using a combination of my favorite ones. Somebody asked me why I'm referring to Gabe as Sally's husband. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but in my story Paul doesn't exist - at least not yet - and Sally never used Medusa's head to get rid of Gabe. Here's the second chapter of the week, and as promised it's from Ares POV.

**Chapter 17**

**Ares POV**

Ares reappeared in his palace atop Mount Olympus. He found a drachma in one of his pockets and tossed it towards one of the self-sustained rainbows that Hephaestus and Iris had created for all the gods. "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Triton in Atlantis."

A clouded mist appeared for a moment, before clearing to reveal a green skinned, twin-tailed merman.

"Triton," called Ares.

"Ares!" exclaimed the sea prince. "What can I do for you?"

"I want permission to come to Atlantis. I need to talk to you and your mother," requested the war god somberly.

Taking in his friend's serious expression, Triton agreed. "Of course you can come. Meet me in my chambers. I will bring mother and you can tell us whatever it is that is bothering you this late at night."

"Thank you, Triton." Ares gritted his teeth as he forced himself to be polite to the merman that had been the cause of Percy's recent break down.

Triton swiped through the mist, ending the Iris Message.

Ares closed his eyes and imagined himself in Triton's rather opulent chambers. The black-haired war god only had to wait a few moments before Triton and Amphitrite flashed in.

"Ares! It's so good to see you," said Amphitrite, as the three gods sat down.

"I wish I could say the same," growled Ares.

"And why can't you?" asked the sea queen, confused and angry.

Ares opened his mouth, then hesitated. He knew that Percy expected him to keep her abuse a secret. He would be betraying her trust if he revealed what he knew about her unhappy childhood. He doubted the raven-haired goddess would forgive him easily.

But then, he remembered the way she'd cried earlier that day. He didn't want her to feel that kind of misery again - especially not if he could help it. He decided that he would explain the abuse if he needed to, but would otherwise let it remain a secret. "I need you two to swear on the River Styx that you will keep what I'm about to tell you a secret, unless I let you tell somebody," he requested, just in case he did end up telling them about the abuse.

Amphitrite and Triton exchanged confused glances, but swore the oath anyway.

Even though he was deep underwater, the war god clearly heard the sharp sound of thunder rumbling, sealing the oath. "Where should I begin?" the war god asked himself under his breath.

To his surprise, Triton replied. "Tell us why you're mad at us," he suggested.

Ares nodded. "You hurt Percy," he stated bluntly.

"_That's_ what you're mad about?" exclaimed Triton. "But you don't even _like_ the little brat.

Ares shook his head. "We're friends now."

The mother and son sitting across from the war god looked at each other in surprise.

"Even so," said Amphitrite. "That doesn't give us a reason not to hurt her."

Ares raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Tell me, why did you hurt her?"

"Simple!" exclaimed Triton. "She's father's bastard child."

"And that's her fault?" questioned Ares, pointedly.

Triton opened his mouth to reply, but then snapped it shut again.

"That's what I thought," said Ares. "The only person you can blame is Poseidon. And maybe Sally Jackson. So why are you taking it out on Percy?"

"Because if we hurt her, it'll hurt Poseidon!" exclaimed Amphitrite, eyes flashing.

"But it's not fair to her," muttered Triton suddenly.

"No, it's not," agreed the war god.

"Mother... maybe we-"

Amphitrite cut her son off. "If you feel bad about this, then you can stop, but I won't."

The sea prince looked at his mother, jaw dropped. "Mom-"

"No, Triton," said the queen of the sea firmly.

Triton looked helplessly at the war god.

Ares sighed. "I didn't want to have to say this, but..."

"I don't care what you say. I won't change my mind," Amphitrite said haughtily.

Ares ignored the sea queen. "As a child... Percy was..."

"Ares, what happened to Percy as a child?" prodded Triton gently.

"She was abused," spat out the war god.

"She was what?!" said Triton, eyes wide.

"Abused," repeated Ares.

Amphitrite huffed. "I don't believe it. She probably lied to you. She's the Hero of Olympus - people like that don't have bad childhoods. If she'd been abused, she would have sided with the Titans during the Second Titanomachy."

Ares shook his head slowly. "I would have thought she was lying, too, if I hadn't seen it myself."

The sea queen looked at the war god with disbelief apparent in her eyes.

"How bad was it?" asked Triton.

"I left her alone for a minute, and by the time I got back, her stepfather had her curled up on the floor and bleeding."

"She deserved it, if she couldn't defeat an old man in a fight," scoffed Amphitrite, but she seemed uncertain. Her voice wavered.

"You don't understand, Amphitrite," said Ares, in a gentle tone as he realized that he was finally getting his point across to her. "When you've been hit by somebody since you were four, you can't even think of defending yourself against him. All you can think of doing is blocking out the pain and hoping he'll tire of beating you."

The green-eyed sea queen was biting her lip. "I-I didn't know..." she blurted out, helplessly.

"Neither of us knew," agreed Triton. "If we had, we would have been much kinder."

"What can we do to make it up to her?" asked Amphitrite, straightening up from the slouched position she had assumed.

"I'm sure Percy would love to have a family," suggested the war god. "She won't have much contact with her mother, now that she's a goddess. Amphitrite, I'm sure she'd love it if you could take Sally's place. And Triton, you could be the brother she never had."

The mother and son glanced at each other, then nodded in unison.

"Well, my job here is done," said Ares, satisfied. "Remember not to tell anyone else about the abuse. I'm already going behind her back, telling you two about this. She doesn't need this information to spread any further."

Amphitrite and Triton nodded again. "Agreed."

"Then I will take my leave."

**A/N: **School just started for me, so I'm going to have to cut down the amount of updates to once a week. I'll try to get more frequent updates out, but most likely, I'll just update once on the weekends. Sorry. Anyways, what do you guys think of this chapter? I hope I made Amphitrite and Triton's reactions seem natural. What do you guys think I should do next chapter? Please review and let me know.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will be especially appreciated. Thanks to everyone that's been encouraging me lately. It really means a lot, especially since my recent chapters have been very spontaneous. I officially have 200+ follows! Can I get to 170 reviews this time? I'm really enjoying writing from Ares POV, but I'll try to give you a chapter from Percy's POV after this one. Here's the chapter of the week.

**Chapter 18**

**Ares POV**

Ares flashed into Percy's temporary bedroom inside the infirmary of Olympus, catching said goddess' attention.

She jumped out of bed, ignoring Aphrodite's requests for her to sit back down. She rushed over to the war god. "How did it go? How's my mom? How has she been doing while I've been missing? Did she send a message for me? Wh-"

Ares cut Percy off with an amused laugh. "I'll tell you everything that happened in a minute." The war god put his hands on the raven-haired goddess' shoulders and guided her back to the bed. He turned to the love goddess. "Thanks for taking care of Jackson."

"It was no problem." Aphrodite smiled. "I'll see you all later."

"Bye, Dite," said Percy, a provocative smile on her face.

"I told you not to call me that!" huffed the goddess of beauty.

Percy just smirked, and Aphrodite sighed in defeat, flashing away.

"Dite?" asked Ares, confused.

Percy shrugged, the smile slipping off her face. Ares realized she'd been acting again - pretending to be an annoying troublemaker. The events from earlier in the day must have shaken her up more than she let on. That realization just strengthened his belief that telling Triton and Amphitrite about the abuse was a good idea.

"So, how is mom?" asked the goddess, sitting down.

Ares followed her lead and sat down, as well. "She's okay. She took the news of Gabe's death and your quest quite well. She told me to tell you she was proud of you and she loves you. Sally wants you to visit her as soon as you can."

"How did mom react to the fact that _I_ killed Gabe?" asked Percy, hands fidgeting nervously.

"She wasn't very happy you killed a mortal, but she understood that you need to do it," replied the war god.

Percy nodded, relieved. "Good. That's good." The goddess sounded distracted.

"Is something wrong?" asked Ares, concerned.

"Hmm? No," denied Percy.

Ares could tell she was lying but let it slip.

"You didn't tell mom about...?"

"Gabe hitting you?" finished the war god. "No."

"Thank the gods," said Percy. "Thank _you,_ Ares."

"No problem," replied Ares. The war god was biting his lip. He needed to tell Percy about his conversation with Triton and Amphitrite, but he wasn't sure how to.

"You seem worried," said the goddess of tides, interrupting his train of thoughts. "Did something happen to my mother?" she asked worriedly.

"No, no," Ares hurried to reassure his friend.

"Then what's wrong?" asked Percy.

"I... need to tell you something," said Ares, slowly and uncertainly.

"What is it?" prodded the petite goddess.

"I..." Ares trailed off. He didn't want to ruin his friendship with the petite goddess. They hadn't known each other long, but they were already close.

"You can tell me anything," comforted Percy, placing her small hand on his large one.

"I spoke to Amphitrite and Triton before coming here," started Ares. He felt Percy tense beside him. "I told them about the abuse."

Percy flinched away from him, pulling her hand away. She looked down.

"I made them swear on the Styx not to tell anyone," continued the war god hurriedly. He tried to explain his actions, "I just didn't want them to keep hurting you. And they won't, anymore! They feel bad."

Percy still didn't speak or look up.

Ares was beginning to panic. "I'm sorry I went behind your back. Please, Percy. Can you forgive me?" Ares pleaded. This was one of the few times in his immortal life that he was truly scared - he just couldn't bear the thought of losing Percy's friendship. He needed to have someone who really understood him, and Percy was one of the few that could be that someone.

Percy finally looked up, and Ares flinched. Her eyes had a glassy, broken look to them. He had never realized how small the goddess was before that moment. She was short at 5'3" and was slim and fit. That, combined with her current shrunken state, caused Percy to look like a glass doll. Easily broken and delicate.

Or maybe already broken.

"Percy," started Ares, desperate to repair the damage he'd done. Whether it was to her, or to the trust she had in him, the war god didn't know. He just knew he needed to do something.

"Save it," hissed the girl, brokenly. The eyes that had resembled the ocean at its calmest just a short while ago, were now a dark, stormy green. The war god had hoped that the anger would repair the brokenness, but as angry as Percy was, Ares could still see the shattered look in her eyes. "I trusted you! I thought, that _you_, of all people, would understand me. Wouldn't betray me. I guess I was wrong," she finished bitterly.

Ares reached for the goddess, but she shoved him away.

"Leave."

"Percy-"

"Leave!" screamed Percy, fists clenched.

Ares could hear water churning angrily somewhere. He looked around. A glass on the bedside table was rocking back and forth from the force of the hurricane whirling inside.

The war god looked back at the raven-haired goddess. She seemed one second away from trying to kill him. He left, listening to Percy's ragged breathing as he shut the door behind him

_'Why did I have to be so stupid?!' _Ares asked himself, angrily._ 'I should've at least asked for her permission before telling Amphitrite and Triton!'_

Ares fell onto his bed, mentally pounding himself into a pulp as he listened to Percy's heartbroken sobs through the thin wall that separated their rooms.

**A/N: **What do you guys think? Was it too dramatic? I'm not entirely sure how they'll recover from this mess. I have a question for you all. Would you rather I update once a week, regularly, or would you prefer that I send out updates as I write them, even if that means waiting for a couple of weeks in between updates? Please review and let me know your answer and what you think of my story.


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will be especially appreciated. Thanks to everyone that's been encouraging me lately. It really means a lot to me. I officially have 200+ favorites, as well as follows! Can I get to 185 reviews this time? Here's the chapter of the week.

**Chapter 19**

**Percy POV**

"Percy, can I come in?" asked Ares.

Grumbling, Percy pushed herself out of bed and opened the door. "What are you doing here?" she hissed at the war god, tiredly rubbing her eyes.

"I'm supposed to stick close to you for two weeks," reminded Ares.

Percy groaned and stopped rubbing her eyes, in favor of glaring at the war god.

"What happened to you?" questioned Ares, gasping.

Percy glanced at a mirror. There were heavy bags under her eyes. Her eyes, themselves, were red-rimmed and bloodshot. Her skin seemed paler and clammier than usual.

The goddess wasn't really surprised, so she just shrugged. "It's none of your business."

Percy hadn't been sleeping well since she fell into Tartarus. She'd had one of her worst nightmares the night before and hadn't been able to fall asleep again after she'd jolted awake, breathless and sobbing.

"Percy," said Ares, grabbing her arm as she turned towards the bed.

The goddess flinched away from the war god's grip.

"Percy," repeated Ares. "Please forgive me. I'm so sorry."

"Are you really?" asked Percy. "Do you really regret telling Amphitrite and Triton about Gabe?"

"I... no. I don't regret it. Because I know, that in the long run, it will benefit you," said Ares.

"Then what exactly are you sorry for?" asked Percy, angrily.

"For betraying your trust!"

Percy softened a bit, before hardening again. She couldn't let Ares back in. He'd just betray her again. She couldn't believe she'd been so foolish. She should have made the war god swear on the Styx that he wouldn't tell anyone.

But he _did_ have her best interests at heart. Right? It would help her if Triton and Amphitrite didn't try to scare her away from Atlantis every time she saw them...

Before she could think about it, Percy found herself speaking to Ares gently. "I can't say you're forgiven - not yet. But, I _can_ say that I'd like it if we could still be friends."

The war god's downcast face brightened considerably. "That's all I could ask for."

"I _do_ need you to swear on the Styx you won't tell anyone else," added Percy, eyes narrowed. She wouldn't even give the war god a chance to betray her again.

Ares looked a bit hurt at her lack of trust, but swore the oath, as requested.

The rumbling of thunder surrounded them for a moment.

"What do you say we go spar for a bit?" suggested Percy.

"Absolutely not!" exclaimed Ares, a horrified expression flickering across his face. "You _just_ got hurt yesterday!"

"And I am perfectly fine," replied Percy, calmly. "I healed quickly."

Ares looked at the goddess in front of him suspiciously. "You aren't hurt anywhere?"

"I don't feel any pain," confirmed the goddess of tides.

"You look ready to fall over!" protested the war god.

"I fell asleep late," Percy lied easily, dismissing the concern.

"Fine. But we'll take it easy," warned Ares, uncertainly.

"Great! Now leave," ordered Percy.

The war god looked at her confused.

Percy rolled her eyes at his obliviousness. "I need to get changed. I refuse to fight wearing this." She gestured to her night clothes.

"Oh!" Ares sheepishly rushed out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Percy looked in her closet, not surprised to find a new set of clothing waiting for her. She tugged on a long sleeved green and purple shirt, followed by a pair of black leather pants that were quickly becoming her favorite. Forgoing her leather boots, Percy stuffed her feet into a pair of green and black tennis shoes.

The sea princess pulled her raven-black hair back in a tight ponytail and grabbed some of the makeup that she found at the back of the closet. She silently thanked Aphrodite for the gift and applied some, covering up the dark circles under her eyes and darkening her skin color. She didn't need Ares hovering over her concernedly while she sparred with him.

"I'm ready!" she called, opening her door.

Ares looked up at Percy. He frowned. "Won't wearing long sleeves make you uncomfortable while fighting?"

"I'll be fine!" Percy snapped, through gritted teeth, forcing herself to not flinch at the mention of the long sleeves. It wasn't the fact that she was wearing long sleeves, but rather the _reason_ she wore them, that got to her.

Ares recoiled, obviously not expecting the fire in the goddess' voice. "Let's go," he said, recovering when Percy shot him an apologetic look.

The war god offered his hand, and Percy promptly placed her own in it. Both closed their eyes, before opening them again, to find themselves in a relatively empty arena.

"Are you going to use Anaklusmos?" asked the war god.

Percy nodded, uncapping her sword. Riptide sprang to life in all of its three foot Celestial Bronze glory.

Ares grabbed a drakon bone sword from a rack. The petite sea goddess was suddenly hit with memories of Damasen giving Anthony a similar sword. Those memories led her mind to darker recollections of her time in Tartarus.

"Can you use a different type of sword?" requested Percy, her voice faint as she struggled to keep from being overwhelmed by the memories.

Ares nodded, looking the goddess over, worriedly. He flashed the sword away, grabbing an Imperial Gold sword, instead. "What's wrong?"

"Memories from Tartarus," replied Percy shortly, finally managing to shove the plague of memories away. She assumed a Greek sword fighting stance.

"Are you sure you can fight?" questioned the war god.

"Yes."

Ares hesitated, but then mirrored Percy's stance.

**A/N:** How was this? Did they make up too quickly? Keep in mind, Percy hasn't forgiven Ares yet - they're just friends again. So, most people said that they would rather that I give you regular, weekly reviews. That's what I'm going to do. I've already written the sword fight, but that's not all of the next. (Spoiler: Next chapter will have Percy's abuse being driven home for Ares.) Chapter 20 will be in Ares POV. Please review and tell me how you want me to involve Dionysus in future chapters. I'm starting to write another story. I won't start posting it though, until I've got at least five chapter written. So, I'll probably start posting in a month or two. Just giving this as a heads up. Anyways, please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter.


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will be especially appreciated. Thanks to everyone that's been encouraging me lately. It really means a lot to me. Can I get to 195 or 200 reviews this time? If I get to 200, I'll give you guys a bonus chapter...

**Chapter 20**

**Ares POV**

"Ready?" asked Ares, raising his sword.

"Ready!" confirmed Percy.

The two gods circled each other, looking for an opening. The pattern continued for a few minutes, until Percy lowered the point of her sword to the ground.

Ares immediately darted in, swinging his sword. Fast as lightning, Percy brought her sword up, blocking the strike. Ares realized that the sea goddess had only been feigning relaxation.

Percy shoved the war god's sword away, causing Ares to stumble a bit. Using his momentary instability to her advantage, Percy darted in, swinging her sword at the war god's side. Ares dodged, and their dance continued, becoming more and more intricate as their speed increased and they used more complicated maneuvers.

Finally, Percy's eyes brightened, as she glanced down. Ares looked down as well, realizing that he'd overextended his lunge. The raven-haired goddess hooked her foot around his ankle and pulled. Ares tumbled backwards to the ground. Both the Olympians swords were entwined, causing Percy to fall as well. Percy landed on the war god, the two finding themselves face to face. Ares froze for a moment as he recognized the compromising position they were in. A blush grew on both of their faces, before the sea goddess quickly rolled off of the war god and lay beside him, panting.

"Who won?" she asked a moment later.

"I did," replied the war god, regaining his breath.

"Oh, please. It was definitely me!" countered the petite goddess.

"You wish!"

"It's not like you won. You fell!" reminded Percy.

"And you fell on me!"

Both gods fell silent at the reminder of the compromising position they'd been in.

Eventually, Ares stood up and offered his hand to Percy, in order to pull her up. The goddess took it, smiling up at him gratefully.

Suddenly, Ares froze.

"What's wrong?" asked the sea goddess, confusion and concern evident in her voice.

The war god jerked his chin towards Percy's arm. The sleeve had rolled up because of the upraised position the arm was in. It didn't help that there were several tears in the sleeve from the spar.

Percy pulled her hand away as she realized what the war god was looking at. She stood up and turned away from Ares.

"What are those?" Ares asked through gritted teeth.

Percy didn't reply.

"What are those?" Ares repeated, softer.

"You know exactly what they are!" hissed Percy. "Scars!"

"Your stepfather gave them to you?" asked Ares, a little taken aback by the goddess' rather blatant reply. He gently turned her around to face him.

"Who else?" questioned Percy bitterly. "After I found out I was a demigod, most of my wounds were completely healed by ambrosia or water. No scars were left."

"What about before you were a demigod? Why did you scar then? Didn't water heal you?" Ares reached for Percy's arm and made to move her sleeve up.

Percy placed her hand on his to stop him. "I didn't know about my powers, so they were dormant. Water couldn't heal me."

The goddess finally removed her hand, allowing Ares to hesitantly push her sleeve up. The war god did so and gasped as he saw the extent of the damage done to Percy's body - her _arm._

"Hades," he swore. Scars ranging of a multitude of thicknesses and lengths swarmed up Percy's arm. "How has nobody ever seen this before?" he asked, eyes wide with horror.

Percy shrugged, averting her eyes from his. "Makeup - it dulls the scars enough to make them hard to notice. Plus, I wear long sleeved shirts or sweatshirts. I just didn't have time, today, to cover the scars with makeup."

Ares hadn't _really_ thought about what being abused meant. But now, seeing the scars that covered Percy's arm... It finally hit him. For the first time in the past couple of days, he actually understood - somewhat, at least - the toll the abuse had taken on Percy.

The war god swore again. "How did your mother never see these?" he asked.

"Mom couldn't spend much time at home - Gabe spent a lot of the money she made on gambling. She had to work a lot," Percy replied, still looking down.

Ares suddenly realized why the sea goddess wasn't looking at him. His nostrils flared in anger. How _dare_ Gabe make her so self conscious, that she become afraid of others seeing her scars._  
_

The war god forced his expression to become calm. If his suspicions were correct, it wouldn't help Percy to see his anger. He grabbed her chin gently and turned her face towards his. "I don't care, you know."

Percy looked at him with confusion and fear in her eyes.

"I don't care that you have scars," Ares elaborated. "You're still you. Some marks on your skin don't change that." He suddenly smiled. "One could even think of them as marks of bravery - you allowed yourself to be scarred to keep your mother safe."

Percy just stared at the war god for a long moment, causing him to think he'd said the wrong thing. Just as he was about to apologize, Percy flung her arms around him and pulled herself against him in a tight hug. Ares hesitantly wrapped his arms around the goddess.

Percy's face was pressed into his chest. Through his thin shirt, Ares could feel the tears leaking out of her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome," said Ares, even though he wasn't sure what he was being thanked for. "Do you want to get back to your room?"

"That sounds good," agreed Percy, still pressed against him.

Ares closed his eyes and flashed the two gods out of the arena.

**A/N: **What do you think? Did I really drive the abuse home for Ares? I just realized that even though this is the twentieth chapter, it's only the fourth day in the story... I really need to get a hang of making time pass faster. A few of you said that you want Dionysus to possibly develop a friendship with Percy and not be as forward about pursuing a relationship with her. I'm considering the idea, but I've also got this crazy idea stuck in my head of Dionysus kidnapping Percy and Ares coming to the rescue... Really weird, I know. The point is, I want more people to review and tell me what you want Dionysus' role to be in future chapters.

Also, I thought I should mention that I'm willing to do one-shots of certain chapters in the other person's POV. (Ex: If I've already written the chapter in Percy POV, I'll write it in Ares POV and vice versa.) Keep that in mind. Send in reviews to tell me what chapters you want done. If I get five reviews requesting the same chapter, I'll write it up and let you know in one of my Author's Notes that it's up.

Anyways, the most important thing right now, is finding out what you guys think about Dionysus. If I don't get enough reviews (five-seven) about that, I'm not sure I'll be able to write a new chapter, because I definitely don't want to bring my crazy idea to life. Sorry about the super long A/N, and don't worry - this didn't eat up the thousand words minimum I use for chapters. Please remember to review!


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will be especially appreciated. Thanks to everyone that's been encouraging me lately. It really means a lot to me. A couple of chapters ago, a Guest asked if any 'stuff' would happen in this story. If I am understanding correctly, then the answer is no. This is a T rated story, not an M rated one. Anyways, the reviews I got about how you want me to include Dionysus were conflicted, so I went with what the majority wanted. Speaking of reviews, I got over ten in one day. Wow! Thanks for that. I was able to begin work on this chapter straight away. I've got 200+ reviews! What do you guys say to getting me to 220 reviews this time? As thanks for giving me around twenty reviews in two days, I'm giving you an extra chapter this week.

**Chapter 21**

**Percy POV**

Percy opened her eyes as she felt Ares loosen his grip around her. She kept her face buried in the war god's chest, trying to convey how much it meant to her that he wasn't repulsed by her scars. That, in a way, he actually thought they represented something good.

"Thank you," she murmured again.

"What for?" Ares asked, gently.

"When Anthony saw them the first time, h-he was disgusted. He hid it immediately, but it was still obvious from the look in his eyes. After that, I tried to make sure he didn't see them. But you... You aren't disgusted. You don't care. Thank you," explained Percy, a small sob escaping her.

Ares wrapped his arms around her tighter. "Anthony was wrong," he stated simply.

The two gods remained entwined for a long moment, until Percy finally took ahold of her emotions and firmly steadied them.

"We should go to the council meeting before we're late again," Ares suddenly remembered.

Percy's eyes widened. "Yeah. I just need to do my makeup and change my clothes. I'll meet you outside in a few minutes." The sea goddess was surprised by how easily she referred to her scars in the war god's presence, but brushed it off, hurriedly pushing Ares out the door.

She removed the torn shirt, quickly rubbing powders and creams into her arms, lightening the scars. She donned a lavender and rose tanktop and threw her leather jacket on as well. She swapped her tennis shoes for leather high heeled boots and walked out the door to find that Ares had also changed his clothes and was waiting for her.

The two held hands and Ares quickly teleported them to the council meeting room. They took their seats moments before Zeus flashed in.

"Let us begin!" announced the king of the gods. "Athena, what is our first order of business?"

* * *

The meeting ended and all the gods stood. They walked around, talking to each other. Percy made a beeline for Hera, as the queen had mentioned during the meeting, at one point, that she needed to speak to Percy. The goddess of tides was waylaid before she even got close to the goddess of marriage.

"Dionysus," said Percy coldly, recalling their interaction from the day before.

"Percy," greeted the wine god. "I wanted to apologize for the way I acted yesterday."

The goddess raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"I was upset and more drunk than usual. I'd had a fight with Ariadne just before the meeting and..." Dionysus trailed off.

"And what?" prodded Percy, wanting to see how sincere the wine god was in his apology.

"We've been fighting a lot. Ari wants a divorce and I-"

"Don't," finished Percy for him, seeing how hard it was for him to get the words out.

Dionysus nodded sighing. "I'm truly sorry for yesterday, Percy. I wasn't thinking clearly. Maybe we can be friends?"

Percy studied the contrite god in front of her through narrowed eyes. She sighed and nodded. "Okay. But if you ever do something like that again..." She pulled Riptide out of her pocket and twirled it in between her fingers in pen form.

"Of course." The wine god nodded hurriedly, more than willing to agree to anything the sea goddess said.

Percy smirked mentally at the thought that even gods were terrified of her threats.

Percy's face suddenly broke into a mischievous grin. "So, tell me more about Ariadne. You obviously care for her."

Dionysus' face took on a lovesick appearance. "She's gorgeous with her long black hair and violet eyes. And Ari's so nice, even after what Theseus did to her. I could just sit and talk to her all day. Or maybe just stare at her."

"She sounds more important than your wine!" Percy laughed.

"Oh, she is! I wasn't really upset about the wine restrictions when father punished me and sent me to Camp Half-Blood. I was more upset about the fact that I couldn't spend time with my wife," explained Dionysus.

Percy stared at him, jaw dropped. "But you were punished for chasing a nymph!"

The wine god rubbed the back of his neck, sheepishly. "Whenever I get extremely drunk, I do stuff like that. Ari's always getting mad at me for that."

"Then it seems to me, that if you stop drinking too much, your relationship with Ariadne would be much stronger," suggested Percy.

"Have you been hanging out with Aphrodite?" asked Dionysus, suspiciously. "You seem to be taking on the role of a love counselor, or at the very least, a daughter of Aphrodite."

"I may have spent a couple of hours yesterday evening talking to her," mentioned Percy, blushing in embarrassment.

"Are you having love problems?" teased the wine god.

"What? No!" denied Percy, vehemently.

Dionysus just raised an eyebrow.

"Fine," sighed the green-eyed goddess. "I'm not entirely sure of how to get over Anthony. I've been trying for the past week or so, but he's always on the back of my mind. I just don't know what to do!"

"What did Aphrodite say?" questioned the wine god.

"I didn't ask Dite. She feels bad enough about us breaking up. I don't need to keep reminding her..." Percy sighed.

"Hmm. Ari might be able to help. She was dumped by Theseus, after all. You two should talk sometime. And maybe you could put in a good word or two for me." Dionysus grinned, hopefully.

"That sounds good. Thanks, Dionysus." Percy smirked. "I'll be sure to put in a couple of words about you. Whether they'll be good or not, I don't know."

"Percy!" whined the wine god.

"I'm joking. I'll tell her she means a lot to you," promised the sea goddess.

"Why don't you come over right now? I'm sure Ari would be willing to help you," offered the wine god.

Percy almost agreed, but then remembered Hera. "Can you wait a few minutes? I need to talk to Hera and then let Ares know where I'm going."

"Sure. Let me know when you're ready." Dionysus left, searching for another god to talk to.

**A/N: **Some people actually supported my kidnapping idea. I didn't think anyone would like it. But anyways, as I was reading your reviews, I remembered that Dionysus really does love Ariadne in the books. I don't want to go off canon from the books, so I decided to just remove all romantic intentions from Dionysus' side towards Percy. I hope you guys don't mind. A few of you requested I do this, so that helped me make up my mind. I like your ideas of Ares being protective of Percy and telling Dionysus to back off. I might do a chapter involving that. Some of you have mentioned that I've done too many Ares and Percy chapters recently and have been ignoring the Seven. As a reminder, this is a really slow moving story, and this is actually just the fourth day of the two weeks Ares and Percy have to spend together... Anyways, what do you guys think? Was Percy too forgiving? I tried to bring Percy's facade of always being light hearted in at the end with all the teasing she was doing.

I have some **important** news. I have a small **competition** for you guys. I'm doing a short companion story about why Anthony cheated on Percy. It was brought to my attention by The Erudite Demigod that it isn't Annabeth's (Anthony's) style to cheat on someone in the books. Anyways, I need a good **title** for the story. Please give me ideas for the title. The person that gives me the best title will get a one-shot of their choice. (As long as I am comfortable writing it - no M rated stuff.) If you're a Guest sending in a title, give me your one-shot request at the same time you send your title idea in. The one-shot doesn't have to be related to the story. Also, give me a title for the one-shot. (I'm terrible at coming up with titles.)

Please review.


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will be especially appreciated. Thanks to everyone that's been encouraging me lately. It really means a lot to me. I think I got another 20 reviews after the last chapter! What do you guys say to getting me to 240 reviews this time? Here's the chapter of the week.

**Chapter 22**

**Percy POV**

Percy slowly made her way to Hera, weaving her way through the clusters of gods dotting the council chamber. The queen of the gods was sitting proudly upon her throne, hawk like eyes watching Percy's every move.

"Hera," greeted Percy as she finally reached the goddess.

"Persephone." Hera inclined her head regally.

"You wished to speak to me," prodded Percy when Hera didn't continue.

"Yes. I wanted to make sure you understood that it was for the best that I took your memories and gave you to Lupa to train," said Hera.

"I understand, but that doesn't mean I appreciate you pulling me out of my life without my permission."

"Would you have granted me permission?" asked the goddess of peacocks, a perfectly formed eyebrow rising.

Percy bit her, thinking. Would she have? She would have asked if there was any other way to save the world, but in the end, she would have agreed. Besides, losing her memories included losing her memories of Gabe. Percy would give almost anything to lose those memories - even if for only a short time.

"Yes," said Percy, certainty filling her voice. "I would have."

Hera's eyes widened in surprise. "Why?" she asked softly. "Why would you agree to losing over half a year of your life?"

"It's who I am," replied Percy, detecting the sincerity in the queen's question. "I would give anything to save my friends. To save my family. In the end, they're the only thing that matter to me. If I had to go through Tartarus again for them, I would."

"You would go through _Tartarus _for them, even knowing, firsthand, the horrors that would await you down there?" clarified Hera, shock coloring her voice.

"Yes. You don't understand. My friends and family make up who I am. Without them, I would just be an empty husk," Percy explained.

"I see," said Hera, head tilted as she attempted to understand exactly what Percy was saying.

"Was there anything else?" asked Percy.

"No. I just wanted to clear the air between us about me taking your memories." Hera waved Percy away with a manicured hand.

Percy nodded and turned away, bumping into Ares' chest.

"Sorry," said the war god, reaching out to steady the sea goddess.

"It's fine. I was actually just about to look for you. Dionysus is taking me to meet his wife. I'll probably be back in my room in an hour or two," said Percy, as she regained her balance.

"Thanks for the heads up," said Ares. "Do you trust Dionysus, though? After the way he talked to you yesterday..."

"He apologized, Ares. Besides, I won't be alone with him. I'm going to meet Ariadne," reminded Percy. "There's no need to worry."

Ares looked unconvinced, but nodded anyways. "I'll see you in a couple of hours, then."

"See you." Percy turned away from Ares and searched for the wine god. She found him talking to Apollo about some party they were planning.

"Percy! Great to see you!" exclaimed Apollo, giving the raven-haired goddess a quick hug. "How are you feeling now? Better than yesterday, I hope."

"Much better," confirmed Percy, smiling at the sun god's never ending exuberance.

"Good. Just remember to have some nectar or ambrosia at least once a day," said Apollo.

"Of course. Thanks, Apollo," said Percy.

"No problem. See you later. I need to go bother Arty." Apollo quickly ran off towards the moon goddess.

"Artemis is going to kill him one day," remarked Percy, watching said goddess yell at her twin brother.

"I'm surprised that day hasn't come yet," said Dionysus. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah. Thanks for helping me out like this, by the way," said Percy.

"It's no trouble," reassured Dionysus. The wine god reached out and placed his hand the sea goddess' shoulder and flashed them away.

The two gods reappeared in a vineyard.

"Ari?" called out Dionysus. "I brought someone to meet you!"

"Who?" came the huffed reply from the other end of the vineyard. "Some demigod brat of yours?"

Dionysus flinched as Percy watched on in sympathy. "I brought a friend. She wanted to talk to you."

"I'll be there in a minute." Ariadne sounded less angry now, and more interested.

A moment later, some grape vines rustled as the form of a gorgeous woman in her early twenties pushed it's way through them. The woman's eyes were a deep violet, that was somewhat reminiscent of grapes. Her hair was a dark black and fell to her waist in loose curls. She was quite short, but Percy assumed that was normal for the time period she had been born in.

"Hello," said the woman. "I'm Ariadne. Who are you?"

"Percy Jackson," the goddess of heroes introduced herself.

"Lady Persephone!" exclaimed Ariadne, pulling herself into a deep curtsy. "It is an honor to meet you."

"Please, drop the honorifics. Just call me Percy," protested the goddess, glaring at Dionysus as he stifled laughter.

"Of course. What can I do for you, Percy?" asked Ariadne, leading Percy to a carved marble bench.

"I wanted your advice," started Percy. She turned to Dionysus. "Can you leave for this? I would prefer to talk about this without your presence."

Dionysus grumbled, but nodded, flashing away.

Percy turned back to Ariadne. "Dionysus said you could help me get over my recent break up with Anthony."

Ariadne looked startled at Percy's bluntness, but shook her head. "I can't really. I never completely got over Theseus myself," she said wryly.

Percy blinked in surprise. "So you're saying you don't love Dionysus?"

"No! Of course not! I do. But there's also a special place in my heart for Theseus - there always will be," explained Ariadne.

"So I'll always be in love with Anthony, too?" asked Percy, sighing despondently.

"Not in love. But you'll always care for him. The best way for you to move on would be to find someone else to love," said Ariadne.

"I see..." said Percy. "Thank you, Ariadne." Percy got up to leave, but then looked back at the goddess. "And for the record, Dionysus loves you too."

The last thing Percy saw before she flashed away was Ariadne's huge smile.

**A/N: **What do you guys think? I wasn't really sure how Percy should get over her break up, so I decided to just write whatever came to mind. I also needed to show that Percy hasn't already gotten over Anthony - it's only been a week or so, since she discovered that he's been cheating on her.

I need some ideas for titles for the companion story about why Anthony cheated on Percy! I realize that I wasn't extremely clear about what I was asking for last chapter, so I'm clarifying in this chapter. I'm asking for possible titles to use. I've already written out most of the story, so I don't need a plot. Please review and let me know what titles you think will work! The competition is still on, by the way. The person that sends in the title I decide to use gets a one-shot of their choice! I would like to have several really good titles by next week. After that I'll put a poll up and you guys can vote!

Please review!


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will be especially appreciated. Thanks to everyone that's been encouraging me lately. It really means a lot to me. What do you guys say to getting me to 255 reviews this time? Here's the chapter of the week.

**Chapter 23**

**Percy POV**

Percy flashed into her room in the infirmary. She flopped backwards onto her bed and thought over what Ariadne said.

From what Percy had understood, Dionysus' wife was basically saying that she'd never really get over Anthony, but she would stop loving him, eventually. Percy sighed. She'd already stopped loving him. The person she had loved would never have cheated on her.

It still hurt, though. She had fallen into _Tartarus_ for Anthony. And then, he just turned around and stabbed her in the back. Worst of all, he didn't even have the decency to own up to his wrong doing until Percy had called him out on it.

Percy sighed again and turned on her side, blinking back tears. She sat up quickly, startled, when a voice sounded behind her.

"Dad," gasped the sea goddess. "Don't do that! You almost gave me a heart attack."

Poseidon smiled sheepishly at his daughter through the Iris Message. "Sorry, Percy. I was wondering if you wanted to come down to Atlantis today."

Percy hesitated. She didn't want to face Amphitrite and Triton again - especially since Ares had told them about Gabe abusing her. But she couldn't stay away forever. She had to face her fears sometime... "Sure, dad. Why do you want me to come over?"

"Can't a father just want to meet his daughter?" protested Poseidon.

Percy just raised an eyebrow and waited for her father to give in.

"Fine," sighed the sea god. "I want to ask you something."

"Can't you ask me via the Iris Message?" Percy was puzzled.

Poseidon hesitated. "It's somewhat personal, I think. I'd rather you be here when I ask."

Percy narrowed her eyes in curiosity, but nodded. "Fine. When do you want me to come over?"

"Now would be great," said Poseidon. "Apollo's chariot has almost completed it's rotation - there's only a few hours of sunlight left. You may as well spend as much time as you can down here before you have to go back up to Olympus."

"Sounds great!" Percy smiled. "I'll be there in a minute. I'll meet you in the throne room of your palace, if that's alright."

"I'll be waiting," replied Poseidon.

Percy stepped forward and slashed through the mist, dissipating the Iris Message. She closed her eyes and gathered her will in preparation to flash away, when she remembered that she needed to write a note to Ares so that the war god would not wonder what was keeping her.

Quickly grabbing a pen and a paper, she began writing.

_Ares,_

_I'm going to Atlantis for a while. Dad said he needed to talk to me about something. I should be back sometime around sundown. _

Percy paused, unsure how she should sign it, but then decided that she needed to make sure Ares really realized that she wanted to maintain a friendship with him.

_Your friend,_

_Percy_

_P.S. Dionysus didn't try anything. There's no need for you to hunt your brother down. :)_

The goddess of tides placed the note on her pillow and then, quickly gathering her thoughts, flashed to the throne of Atlantis. The moment Percy appeared in the throne room, she was engulfed in a hug.

"Dad!" she exclaimed, surprised at his enthusiastic greeting.

Poseidon stepped away. "Hey, Percy."

"Why did you call me down here?" asked Percy.

Poseidon sighed, hesitating. "Yesterday, you promised to tell me who the mortal that you killed was."

Percy froze and her hands clenched into fists.

Poseidon hurriedly added, "You don't have to tell me. I was just hoping you would... I know I haven't been a major part of your life, but I want to change that. I want us to have a proper father-daughter relationship where we can trust each other about things like that."

Percy blinked, forcing herself to open her mouth. "It's fine," she said. "You're right. You're my dad and, god or not, I want us to be able to trust each other. I just need to you to swear on the Styx that you won't overreact to what I'm about to tell you."

Poseidon's eyes widened in worry and confusion. Nevertheless, the sea god acquiesced and swore the oath. The faint sound of rumbling thunder resounded through the halls of the Atlantean palace.

Percy took a deep breath. She couldn't reveal the entire truth - it would break Poseidon if he knew Percy had been subjected to abuse. "I killed Gabriel Ugliano," she finally uttered.

Poseidon's forehead crinkled in confusion. "Wasn't that your step-father?"

"Yes."

"Why would you kill the man that took care of you for years?" questioned the king of the seas.

"He threatened to hit mom," replied Percy. It wasn't a lie. The only reason she had never told anyone Gabe abused her was that he promised he'd kill her mother if she did.

But it wasn't the complete truth either. Percy was glad she hadn't revealed everything when the sea floor began to shake and water swirled angrily.

"Father!" yelled Percy. "You need to calm down. Gabe never actually hit mom. Remember your oath!"

The seas calmed, but anger was still apparent on Poseidon's face.

There were two flashes of light. Amphitrite and Triton emerged from them, quickly swimming over to Poseidon's side.

"Poseidon?" asked the queen of the seas. "What's wrong?"

Poseidon glanced at Percy who was staring at her step-family with wide eyes. She didn't want her father to reveal anything to them - hopefully if the topic of Gabe never came up, the two would never talk about the abuse she had gone through. "Nothing," he lied. "If was just demonstrating my powers for Percy and got a little carried away."

Percy smiled at her father gratefully.

Amphitrite and Triton relaxed.

"Father, Briares wishes to speak to you," said Triton, snapping his fingers as though he had just remembered.

Poseidon nodded. "I'll be on my way, then. I shall see you before you leave, daughter."

"Of course, dad," replied Percy

The god of seas flashed away, most likely to the forges of Atlantis, leaving his daughter alone with his wife and son.

**A/N:** Some people have mentioned, lately, that my chapter lengths are rather short. I assure you, all my chapters are at least 1,000 words. The reason I don't usually go too far over that is I don't have time. I've made a commitment to update at least once a week, and I honestly don't think I can manage anymore. I also can't increase the amount of words in each update because I have school. Studies and education will always come first to me. There are a few chapters when I have come close to 2,000 words and that is because I wasn't very busy those weeks. Also, I try to end each chapter at a good closing point - usually the end of a conversation, or Ares or Percy flashing away. Basically, what I'm trying to say is, I make the updates as long as I can within the time frame I have to get the next chapter out. Anyways, please review and tell me how you want the conversation between Amphitrite, Triton and Percy to go.


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. Constructive criticism will be especially appreciated. Thanks to everyone that's been encouraging me lately. It really means a lot to me. Can I get to 270 reviews this time? And here we go...

**Chapter 24**

**Ares POV**

After reading Percy's letter, Ares decided to go for a walk. The black-haired god flashed himself to the most important of the many parks of Olympus. He walked through the park, glancing at statues of great heroes. He read their plaques which stated the heroes most memorable achievements.

_Perseus, son of Zeus. Slayer of Medusa._

_Theseus, son of Poseidon. Slayer of the Minotaur. Navigator of the Labyrinth._

_Heracles, son of Zeus. Completer of the Twelve Labors. Slayer of Ladon. Chainer of Death._

_Orion, son of Poseidon. One of the greatest hunters to ever live._

_Achilles, son of Thetis. Bearer of the blessing of the Styx._

Ares passed by many more statues, before he finally reached the newest ones. The war god glowed with pride as he saw the first one.

_Clarisse la Rue, daughter of Ares. Slayer of the Lydian Drakon._

He moved on, walking slower. Ares skipped some of the smaller statues and made his way to the bigger ones.

_Grover Underwood, satyr. Lord of the Wild._

_Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus. Lieutenant of the Hunt._

_Nico di Angelo, son of Hades. The Ghost King._

_Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, daughter of Bellona. Praetor of Rome._

_Lavinia Valdez, daughter of Hephaestus. Fire-user. Savior of Hera. One of the Seven. Minor goddess of fire and forges._

_Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite. Charm-speaker. Savior of Hera. One of the Seven. Minor goddess of love and charmspeak._

_Jason Grace, son of Jupiter. Praetor of Rome. Savior of Juno. One of the Seven. Minor god of lightning and flight._

_Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto. Manipulator of the Mist. One of the Seven. Minor goddess of riches of precious stones._

_Frank Zhang, son of Mars. Shape-shifter. __Savior of Thanatos. _Blessed by Mars. One of the Seven. Praetor of Rome. Minor god of archery and shape shifting.

Ares momentarily shifted into his Roman aspect as he gazed at his son's statue. Shifting back, he continued walking. just one more statue until he reached the one he was truly looking for.

_Anthony Chase, son of Athena. Official Architect of Olympus. Navigator of the Labyrinth. Bearer of the Titan's curse. Hero of Olympus. Survivor of Tartarus. One of the Seven. Minor god of architecture and battle strategy._

'_Finally,' _thought Ares, as he stopped in front of the largest statue, '_I will learn about all of Jackson's achievements.'_

Ares hadn't been very interested in any of Percy's quests and as the war god, and as much as he wanted to learn about the now, he had a reputation to maintain. He couldn't just _ask _someone about Percy.

The statue was a larger than life-size depiction of Percy. It was made of precious stones, but at the same time it seemed that it would come to life at any moment. Athena and the other architects had gone all out on that particular statue. Percy's plaque listed all of her accomplishments, unlike the others. She was, after all, arguably the the most important demigod to ever exist.

_Persephone Jackson, daughter of Poseidon. Retriever of Ares' shield. Retriever of the Lightning Bolt. Retriever of the Helm of Darkness. Sailor of the Sea of Monsters. Retriever of the Golden Fleece. Bearer of the Titan's Curse. Savior of Artemis. Navigator of the Labyrinth. Retriever of the Caduceus. Bearer of the blessing of the Styx. Demigod of the Great Prophecy. Heroine of Olympus. One of the Seven. Praetor of Rome. Survivor of Tartarus. Defeater of Gaea. Major goddess of heroes, the tides and swordsmanship. The fifteenth Olympian._

There were dozens of other titles mentioning which Titans, Giants, gods and monsters she'd killed throughout her life, but Ares ignored those. What he'd wanted was an overview of her demigod life, and he'd found it…

The war god had heard of several of Percy's accomplishments, but he'd never truly realized just how much Percy had done for Olympus.

Now that he did… he wasn't sure how he felt. Grateful? Surprised? Shocked? Jealous? Ares gave up on deciphering his feelings and pushed those thoughts away.

The war god left the park and began walking down the streets of Olympus.

"Ares!"

The war god turned towards the voice.

"Apollo," he growled, "what do you want?"

The sun god smiled teasingly. "What? No hugs?"

Ares narrowed his eyes threateningly. "What _are_ you talking about?"

"Oh, just that I've seen you hugging a certain daughter of Poseidon quite a bit, recently," answered Apollo airily.

"That's none of your business," growled Ares. He lunged towards the sun god.

Apollo backed away, yelping. "Alright! You didn't hug her!"

Ares smirked triumphantly. He had a reputation to uphold. Whether he maintained his facade in private, with Percy - someone who understood him - was a different matter. He couldn't let his half-brother think he was getting soft.

"Anyways, I didn't come here to tease you. I wanted to know how Percy's doing," said Apollo.

"Why? I thought you already asked her," questioned Ares.

The sun god shrugged. "I did. But I'm not sure if I should trust what she says. I was speaking to one of my children - Will Solace - and he said Percy always had a tendency to underplay how hurt she was to get out of the infirmary," explained Apollo.

"She held her own in a fight against me well enough, earlier today," said Ares, by means of answering his brother's question.

Apollo's eyes widened. "You can't just go and fight one of my patients without my permission!"

"It was her idea," protested Ares, trying to shift the blame from himself. Even the _war_ god was wary around the god of medicine when he god protective of his patients.

Apollo huffed, unconvinced, but nodded his head in acceptance. "So, is Percy completely fine?"

Ares cocked his head, thinking over the past few days. Obviously, the daughter of Poseidon wasn't fine - well, not emotionally. But Apollo was asking about the physical aspect of her health... "Yeah."

"Great!" Apollo smiled. The sun god closed his eyes to flash away, but then opened them again. "Oh, and Athena says that the architectural designs for Percy's palace are ready for her to look at. Athena wants Percy to drop by her palace sometime in the next couple of days."

Ares nodded his head, signaling that he'd deliver the message.

Apollo nodded his head and then flashed away.

**A/N: **What did you all think of this chapter? I was going to keep writing from Percy's POV, but then I thought that if Riordan can put cliffhangers in his books and make my extremely antsy about what's going to happen in different parts of his storyline, why can't I? So I wrote this, instead. Additionally, I feel like I'm giving too much attention to Percy. She _is_ the main character, but Ares isn't far behind, and it isn't fair to not explain what goes on during his day when he's not with Percy. Please review.

In other news, I've put a **poll** up on my profile page. It's about which story title I should pick for my companion story about Anthony dumping Percy... I would have announced this last week, but I couldn't figure out how to embed it in my profile page, but thanks to Jasmine112, I have! Please **vote**.


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Please review. I really want to know what you all think of my writing. **Constructive criticism** will be especially appreciated. Please give me some. That sort of is the point of me writing on FanFiction. Anyways, thanks to everyone that's been encouraging me. What do you guys say to getting me to 280 reviews this time, with at least two of them having constructive criticism? Here's the chapter of the week.

**Chapter 25**

**Percy POV**

Percy glanced around the throne room nervously, looking at everything except her step-family. There was a sudden blur of movement in the corner of her vision before Percy found herself engulfed in strong arms.

Percy gaped at Triton as he pulled away from her. "Wha-why? How?" Regaining control of her tongue, Percy formed a proper question, "Why would you hug me? You hate me!"

Triton shook his head, hovering close to her, arms twitching like he was barely able to restrain himself from hugging her again. "I don't hate you," denied the sea prince.

Percy raised a challenging eyebrow.

"Well, I did," he quickly amended, "but I don't anymore."

"Because of what Ares told you?" questioned Percy.

"Somewhat," said Triton, hesitantly.

Percy adopted a curious expression and cocked her head.

"I've always wanted a sister. But then, when I found out about you... I was mad. You were proof that father cheated on mother..." Triton trailed off, shrugging helplessly.

"So what changed?" asked Percy. "I'm still Poseidon's illegitimate child," she added somewhat bitterly.

"I don't know," came the honest reply from the green-skinned merman. "I guess hearing about what happened during you childhood..."

Percy nodded sharply, signaling that she didn't want her half-brother to finish his explanation. She needed no reminders of what Gabe had done to her.

"Can you forgive us for hurting you? We didn't realize that our violence would remind you of your... childhood." asked Amphitrite, slowly approaching the sea princess.

Percy shook her head. "I don't need you to feel sorry for me and pity me," she said harshly.

"That's not what we meant! Hearing about what happened to you made us realize that we didn't want to do the same thing. We realized that we were on our way to becoming the same type of monster as your step-father. That's not what we want," said the queen.

"We thought we were protecting our family," added Triton. "Now we realize that we were destroying it."

Percy wasn't sure what to make of the duo. One one hand, they seemed sincere. But on the other hand, they had hated her for the entirety of her life for just existing.

When Percy hesitated in replying, Triton took the opportunity to plead his case. "Look, I know you don't trust me and you have every reason not to. But can you give me a chance? I want to be able to play the role of the over protective big brother. I want to have an annoying, but sweet younger sister... Please. Can you forgive us?"

"And I want to have a daughter," added Amphitrite. "I have a son to spoil, but I don't have a daughter that I can gossip with or go shopping with... I would love it if you could be that daughter. I just need one more chance to prove myself. I promise you won't regret it."

"You promise?" asked Percy, uncertainty creeping into her voice.

Triton and Amphitrite nodded franticly, sensing that the sea princess was giving way.

"Fine. But only one more chance," she warned. "Don't mess this up."

Mother and son converged on Percy, practically smothering her.

Percy slowly wrapped her own arms around the other two, as well. "You know," she said, "I've always wanted a brother."

Triton pulled away, grinning.

Amphitrite pulled away as well, a playful pout on her face. "And you didn't want a mother?"

"Amphitrite... I have a mother."

"I know," said the sea queen. "And I'm not trying to take her place. But at the same time, she is a mortal and you are now an immortal. Your paths have split. You will no longer be able to spend time with her like you used to," she explained. "I just want you to know that if you ever need a maternal figure in you life, and she's not available, I will always have an open ear."

"Thank you, Amphitrite." Percy smiled gratefully. "I'll keep that in mind."

The three gods floated in the water in silence for a few moments, simply taking in the events that had just occurred.

It was Triton that broke the silence. "Now, about this... step-father of your-"

"I don't want to talk about Gabe," Percy cut him off.

"We know you don't, Percy," said Amphitrite. "However, if we are to be your family, it would be for the best if you told us about him. We just want to help, and we can only do that if we know what happened."

Percy bit her lip and nodded. "I'm not really sure what there is to say," she said. "He hit me. End of story."

"Can we see?" asked Triton, gently, obviously understanding that his half-sister wouldn't be able to talk about her past.

"See what?" questioned Percy.

"Your scars," elaborated the twin-tailed merman.

Percy stumbled backwards, fear and shock overwhelming her. If they saw her scars...

"Just your arm, Percy," said Amphitrite, quickly. "We just want to understand what that monstrous man did to you."

Percy opened her mouth to refuse. She shut it again as Ares' words reverberated through her mind.

'_Y__ou're still you. Some marks on your skin don't change that. One could even think of them as marks of bravery - you allowed yourself to be scarred to keep your mother safe.'_

Percy slowly nodded - she had nothing to be ashamed of, after all. These were people who wanted to be her family. They wouldn't turn their backs on her just because of some scars. Right?

The raven-haired goddess moved her hand to her jacket sleeve and hesitantly pushed it up to her elbow.

Triton and Amphitrite, who had moved towards her, both let out gasps as they saw the web of scars that adorned her arm.

"Hades," breathed Triton. "How could anyone do that to a child?" His face was twisted in a sneer.

"I don't know how you didn't want revenge against Poseidon for leaving you alone with that... man! If it had happened to anyone else, I have no doubt they would have tried to bring Olympus down and destroy the gods," added Amphitrite through gritted teeth.

Percy looked at the two gods, surprised. She had been expecting them to at least be somewhat disgusted by her, but they were only disgusted with Gabe. They weren't judging her. They simply didn't care that she was disfigured. They still wanted to be a part of her family.

Unable to hold herself back, the sea goddess threw herself at the two, pulling them into joint embrace.

**A/N: **I've come to realize that I'm moving way too slowly with this story. I mean, I've already written 25 chapters and I haven't even started on the action I have planned. I've just been developing relationships and stuff, which is important, but it does get boring. So I'm going to do a time skip somewhere in the next couple of chapters. **I need you guys to tell me right now if I've left any loose ends at all in this story.** Well, besides the whole _'When is Percy going to get together with Ares?'_ part. If I haven't put chapters up that tie the loose ends together before the time skip... Well, those ends may never be tied together unless I write chapters earlier in the story which means I'd have to do a rewrite. And I do NOT want to do a rewrite when I could be writing a new story or the sequel.

I'm giving you guys until Monday morning to vote on the poll for the companion story's title. After that the poll will be closed and I will publish the first chapter of the story. If you're a guest, you can post a review, giving me your preference. The options are: **Burning Love**, **Drifting Apart** and **Fire to the Rain**. (Cue: Everybody cheers and goes and votes for their favorite title.)

Anyways, please review with constructive criticism. _Please. _I want to write an original story and to do that, I need to better my writing, which I can only do through constructive criticism. The constructive criticism doesn't have to apply only to this chapter. It can include anything you've seen in previous chapters as well (or even future ones, if you're the Oracle of Delphi).


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